


Ruins In The Forest

by mrgoldsdearie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Once Upon a Time Fusion, F/M, Inspired by Once Upon a Time (TV), Rumbelle Secret Santa, Rumbelle Secret Santa 2014, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 08:54:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2806763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrgoldsdearie/pseuds/mrgoldsdearie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Archaeologist, Dr. Rumple Gold sets out on a journey, with his newly hired camera person Belle French, assistant Regina Mills, and local guide Tinkerbell. They embark on a search, for the lost city of Avonlea and the dagger of The Dark One.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ruins In The Forest

**Author's Note:**

> This is a my rumbelle secret Santa gift for the lovely endangeredslug.
> 
> Hi Slugy ! I’v been your Santa this whole time ! You asked for a Rumbelle: archaeologist, lost city, AU and here it is ! I had fun (and cried at times, but who haven’t cried over their rss thingy) writing this gift for you. I adored having the privilege of being your Santa. I was lucky to be given someone I think of as a friend. *squishes you* I hope you (and everyone else, but mostly you ! *hehe*) enjoy what I’ve written. Hugs and love ~ Santa. (I’m really going to miss calling myself ”Santa” in the third person.)

~*~*~*~ Part One ~*~*~*~

"We may not have found the Golden Crocodile relic in the Valley of the Kings, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t out there." World renowned archaeologist Dr. Rumple Gold, closes the documentary of his research in Egypt.

"You’re really gonna end it like that?"

"Just hold the camera up straight, Leroy."

"Alright, Doc." Leroy Katz re-adjusts his camera. "But you’re really gonna end it like that?"

"Do you have a better idea, dearie?"

"No, but that was just awful."

"Well, since you don’t have a better idea, then just stay quiet and hold the camera." Dr. Gold stands up straight and takes a deep breath. "We may not have found the Golden Crocodile relic in the Valley of the Kings, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t out there…" He pauses and gawks into the camera. "Excellent job, Leroy. You made me lose my train of thought."

"I’m sorry, Doc, but that line isn’t your best."

"Now, were stuck with it, thanks to you." He picks up his case of excavation tools.

"We can try again, Doc."

"No, no reason too. I’m finished with it and ready to move on to the next project."

"Whatever you say." Leroy begins packing up his equipment.

The scorching desert sun beams down on Dr. Gold and his crew, as they prepare to take their leave from Egypt.

Regina Mills, Dr. Gold’s most trusted assistant, who has studied and worked under him for many years, enters his tent with a copy of the Egypt documentary. “I have the unedited version for you, Doctor.” She clutches her files to her chest.

"Thank you, Regina." He closes the case to his excavation tools. "I’ll look over it on our flight to Romania."

"Yes, Doctor." She sits the cd on top of his case. "It took me awhile and a lot of searching, but I made the arrangements for our new camera person."

"Really? Just in time for Romania?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"What’s the catch, dearie?" He crosses his arms, gaping at her, doubtful.

"There is no catch, Doctor." She restlessly skims through her files.

Dr. Gold reads her body language, analyzing the way she doesn’t look at him and the nervous tapping of her foot. “We’ve been together forever, Regina. I can tell when you’re lying.”

"Aright, Doctor, I’m sorry." She takes a ruffled breath. “ Well, there are a few things about her."

"Which are?"

"She’s fresh out of film school and she wasn’t the best in her class."

The doctors eyes widen. “What !” his voice roars through the tent.

Regina jumps back with jitters. “I’m sorry, Doctor, but no one wants to go to Romania. Especially, for what you’re looking for.” She calms herself, placing her hand over her heart. “She was all I could find and it’s better than nothing,” she swiftly adds.

The doctor takes a deep breath and slowly sighs out. “This person is really all you could find?” he massages his temples, trying to relieve himself of a headache brewing.

"Yes, Doctor. Her resume wasn’t that bad and she wasn’t the worst in her class, she still graduated. All you really need is someone to hold a camera."

Dr. Gold sits in his chair. “Alright, Regina, I guess she’ll have to do. She’s going to meet us in Romania, right?”

"Yes, everything is taken care of."

"What’s this persons name?"

Regina fumbles through her folders again. “Umm, Belle French.”

"Thank you, dearie. Let’s get the rest of this stuff packed and get the hell out of this desert."

"Yes, Doctor." She scampers out of the tent.

It takes several hours for Dr. Gold and his team to clear their excavation site. When everything is packed and loaded up, he says goodbye to everyone not joining him in Romania.

"Doc, either you’re really brave or really stupid to go searching for that place," Leroy says, as he shakes the doctors hand.

"I just might be a little of both." He laughs to himself. "Are you sure about not joining us?"

"Oh, yes. I’m more sure than anything. I don’t play around with curses, Doc."

"Alright, Leroy. I just thought I’d ask again." Dr. Gold leans in closer. "Regina found a new camera person, but I think she might be a little sketchy," he whispers.

"Regina? Of course she is. She’s a bit nutty if I say so myself."

"What?” He shakes his head, puzzled. “ No, no, not Regina, the new camera person." The doctor clarifies.

"Oh, I see. You’ll be fine, Doc. I wouldn’t worry about it. The fact that they’ve agreed to go with you at all, is a good sign in itself." Leroy assures him.

"I’ll take your word for it, dearie." He shakes Leroy’s hand again.

"Good luck, Doc." He steps into the truck.

"Thanks for everything, Leroy." Dr. Gold watches as the truck drives further into the desert. Afterwards, he meets up with Regina in their jeep. He sits inside the car and peeks over at her. "It’s just you and me for now, dearie." He starts the jeep.

"Yes, Doctor." She gazes at him, as he pulls away from the excavation site. "I’m afraid of what might happen in Romania. All of the stories about that castle. I know you don’t believe them, but… "

"You have nothing to be afraid of, Regina." He assures her. "I won’t let anything happen to you."

She smiles brightly at him.”Thank you, Doctor.”

"No reason to thank me, dearie. You know I think of you as a daughter.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you also know I hate it when to call me sir.”

“Yes, Doctor, I’m sorry.” She hastily apologizes.

He chuckles, resting his hand on her knee. “It’s alright, dearie.” He beams back at her, with a smirk. “Anyways, It’s my job to make sure you’re alright.”

She smiles back at him and turns on her computer, making sure she kept perfect track of their time in Egypt.

As the desert sun sets and the temperature drops, Dr. Gold arrives at the Luxor airport. “Regina, wake up, dearie.”

She has fallen asleep during the long ride and doesn’t hear the doctor trying to wake her.

"Regina !" he shouts.

She jerks out of her deep sleep. “Yes, Doctor.” She wipes the drool from her mouth.

"We’re at the airport.” He spoke to her more serenely.

"Oh, oh right." She anxiously gathers her computer and files.

Dr. Gold places his hand over hers, trying to soothe her jitters. “I know you’re not really looking forward to this trip and I know that you’re tired. I can postpone the flight for tomorrow, if you want.”

"But, Belle and our Romanian guide will be waiting for us."

"Call them and tell them we’ll be there later tomorrow,” he orders. “It’s only a three hour and forty minute flight. I can’t have my best assistant suffering from lack of sleep."

"Yes, Doctor." Regina pulls out her phone.

The doctor restarts the car and heads to the nearest hotel. After a short drive, Dr. Gold pulls up to Granny’s Motel.

"Would you like me to check us in?"

"No, no dearie, I’ve got it." He gets out of the jeep to check them into a room. Dr. Gold strolls into the motel office and lays eyes on a little old lady sitting in a rocking chair, sharpening arrows for her crossbow on the floor. He’s taken aback by the scene he just walked into, but this isn’t the first shady character he’s met. "Hello ma’am." Dr. Gold forces a smile on his face.

"Are you checking in?" The old lady gripes.

"Yes, ma’am."

The old lady stands, slams her arrow down on the counter, making sure he gets a good look at it, then opens the sign in book. “Sixty-five for one bed, One thirty for two.”

"Just a single bed room, ma’am." Dr. Gold pinches his pennies.

"Sixty-five pounds, sign right here." She points to the empty space in the book.

He takes out his wallet, counts the money and hands it to the old lady.

She snatches the money and turns to get his room key, as he signs his name in the book. She turns back around and hands him the key to cabin thirteen. “Enjoy your stay.” She picks up the arrow and sits back in her chair.

He immediately turns away and scuttles out of the office. Dr. Gold returns to the car and opens the door for Regina. She steps out and he drags her to the room.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She’s disorientated with his urgency.

"Just walk faster, Regina.” The doctor persist, yanking her behind him.

"You didn’t pay for two beds again, did you?"

He hastily unlocks the door and shoves Regina inside.

Regina crosses her arms, staring at him with an arched eyebrow. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

"You should have seen that lady, sharpening arrows at the front desk." His body shivers, as he shuts the door. "We have to be out of here very early tomorrow."

"We wouldn’t have to rush if you just pay for two beds. You have more than enough money, Doctor. I’ll never understand why you have to be so cheap."

"You know the routine, dearie." He avoids her comment.

"Yes, Doctor." She sighs. "It’s your turn to sleep on the couch."

"I’ll go out and get us a change of clothes." He opens the door and heads out to the car. He quickly returns and tosses the clean clothes at Regina. "I’ll take my shower after you."

After their showers, Dr. Gold and Regina settle in their beds.

"Are you going to be okay? That couch doesn’t look very comfortable and you have that tricky ankle."

"I’ll be fine, Regina. You get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning."

"Alright." She lays down in the bed. "Goodnight, Dr. Gold."

"Goodnight, dearie."

An hour before the sun rises, Dr. Gold and Regina are awoken by loud knocking on the door. Dr. Gold jolts up from the couch and goes to the door. “Hide in the bathroom, Regina,” he barks.

"What?"

"Regina," he says sternly.

"Okay." She dashes to the bathroom and shuts the door behind her.

Dr. Gold calms himself, then opens the door to the tip of a crossbow pointing in his face. He face turns pale and he almost pisses his pants, as he hastily backs away.

"You don’t think I know when I’ve been cheated?"

"Ma’am, why don’t you just put that thing down. No one has cheated you."

"Bullshit !” The old lady backs him to the wall. “You only payed for a single. I saw your lady friend. I want both of you out of here now,” she demands, tightening her grip on the trigger.

"You’re mistaken.” The doctor is persistent with his lie. He never pays full price and he isn’t going to start now. “No one else is here, dearie. It’s just me, as you can clearly see." He’s mastered the art of keeping cool in situations like this.

"Come out of that bathroom, or I’ll put this arrow right through him !"

After hearing the threat on the doctor’s life, Regina immediately swings open the door and jumps out. “Please don’t hurt us, ma’am. We’re going right now.” She gathers up their things and pushes Dr. Gold out of the door.

The old lady follows them out, pointing the crossbow at them the entire time. “You’re not welcomed here anymore.” The old lady shoots an arrow into the door of the their jeep.

"Oh, shit !" Dr. Gold shrieks, as he and Regina scurry into the car. Once inside, he quickly starts it and burns rubber away from the motel.

Regina catches her breath, looking back at the motel. “How many rooms do we have to be kicked out of, before you’ll pay full price?”

"I’ve got a better question for you, dearie." He heedlessly steers the jeep. "How did she see you?"

"I don’t know, Doctor, maybe she saw you shoving me around."

He takes more control of the wheel and slows down. “Let’s just forget about this whole ugly scenario. We’re getting out of this country anyways.” Dr. Gold drives them straight to the Luxor airport.

After a rough and early morning, Dr. Gold and Regina board their plane. At last on their way to the country of Romania, to begin their search for the lost city of Avonlea and the mythical dagger of The Dark One.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Two ~*~*~*~

Almost four hours after boarding their flight, Dr. Gold and Regina arrive at the Capitol City of Bucharest, Romania. They departure from the plane and meet up with their Romanian guide Tinkerbell, also Belle French the teams new camera person.

Tinkerbell stands in the airport lobby holding a sign, welcoming Regina and the doctor to Romania.

Regina notices the sign and she leads Dr. Gold to their guide.

Tinkerbell greets them warmly, extending her hand. “Welcome to Romania.”

"Thank you." Dr. Gold shakes her hand. "I’m Dr. Rumple Gold and this is my assistant Regina Mills."

"I’m Tinkerbell, but you can just call me Tink."

"Nice to meet you, Tink. We’re both exceedingly enthusiastic about this excavation. I have a good feeling we’re going to find what we’re looking for this time," Dr. Gold says and turns his attention to Regina. "I thought our new camera person was going to meet us here."

"I don’t know where she is, Doctor. I talked to her and she said she would be here."

"There was a woman waiting here with me, but she left about thirty minutes ago," Tinkerbell states. "Should we wait for her?"

"Yes, we must wait for her. We don’t have anyone else to film the documentary.” The doctor can’t believe this is happening. “Regina, I should have known something like this was going to happen. You’ve gotten us someone unreliable." Dr. Gold glares at her crossed.

"She isn’t unreliable, Doctor, she was here."

"Well, she wasn’t here to film the greeting. I really wanted to have that this time."

Regina looks at the doctor at a loss. There is nothing she can do and she knows how much they’ve prepared for this trip. While thinking of a way to explain herself, she spots a woman heading towards them. “Umm, I think that’s her coming now, Doctor.” Regina points behind Dr. Gold.

A woman with brown wavy hair, ruggedly pulled up in a ponytail, wearing thick framed black glasses and dragging a duffle bag behind her, rushes up to the group. She stops in front of them, drops her bag, bends over with her hands on her knees and breathing heavily. “Oh, shit.” She hunches breathless, as they all gawk at the jumbled mess before them. She stands up straight. “Oh, god, I still need a moment.” She fans herself with her hands.

"Are you going to be alright, dearie?" Dr. Gold asks concerned.

"Yes, yes I’ll be fine." She takes another deep breath and offers the doctor her hand. "I’m Belle French.” She quickly takes back her hand and wipes her sweaty palm on her pants. “Sorry about that.”

"Umm, that’s quite alright, dearie. I’m happy you were able to join us, Miss French." He shakes her hand. "I’m Dr. Gold this is Regina and I think you met Tink already."

"Nice to meet everyone." Belle gives them a quirky wave.

First impressions are everything and Dr. Gold doesn’t know what to entirely make of her. “Would you mind telling us what happened to you, dearie?”

"Oh, I left my bag on the bus. Good thing I was able to catch it, or you guys would be screwed." She snickered to herself, notices all the serious faces looking back at her and she stops.

"The bag right there." He points down at her white duffle bag, calling attention to something he instantly views as a problem.

"Yep, that’s my whole life, for this trip, and your show right there,” she answers nonchalantly.

"That just looks like a bag of clothes. Where’s the rest of your stuff?"

"The rest of my stuff?" She looks at him bewildered. "Like what?"

"I don’t know, like a camera, microphone, or maybe a computer. You know you were hired to film a documentary, right?" This woman is weighing his patients.

She smirks at him, tapping on the frame of her glasses.

"Why are you doing that, dearie?"

"I’ve got my camera right here. I’ve been filming this whole conversation."

"Camera goggles?" He turns to Regina, as his face reddens with fury. "You got me someone that uses camera goggles?"

"I didn’t know she used camera goggles, Doctor." Regina defends herself.

Belle pats Dr. Gold on his shoulder and he quickly circles to face her. “Umm, they’re not camera goggles.” She rolls her eyes, a little offended that he called her highly technical glasses, goggles. “They’re Pivothead camera glasses, the durango model, with hi definition picture and stereo sound. I can even take stills with these babies.” She snaps a picture of Dr. Gold.

He isn’t impressed at all. “That’s nice, dearie.” He turns his back to her, avoiding her completely. “Regina…”

"Look." Belle interrupts him. "I’m more than capable and fully qualified to film your little documentary."

Dr. Gold faces towards her again, annoyed that she called his history making documentary, little . “It’s not just a little documentary. A lot of time, money, and research has gone into this project,” he heatedly states. “I’ve been searching for this city almost ten years and I think I’ve finally discovered it’s location. I can’t have it ruined by a girl and her camera goggles.” The doctor snarls his words through his teeth.

"Look, dearie." Belle mocks his Scottish accent. "No one else wanted to take this trip with you. I’m the only person that was willing to go. I’ve heard the stories about the place you’re looking for and I chose to go with you anyways.” She pokes his shoulder.

His eyes broadens, when she invades his personal space.

“Now, I’m going to film your documentary and do a damn good job at it. And I wouldn’t mind if you showed me a little more respect.” Belle sets the doctor in his place.

Dr. Gold stares at her, steaming.

"I think it’s time that we get out of this airport." Tinkerbell interjects, defusing the tension building.

"Yes, excellent idea, Tink," Regina hastily adds. "Let’s go, Doctor." She gives him a little push to get him moving.

Belle picks up her bag and follows behind them.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Three ~*~*~*~

They go out to Tinkerbell’s car, place their bags in the trunk, then everyone steps in.

"Here’s what’s going to happen in the next week," Tinkerbell says, as she drives away from the airport. "I’ve arranged for us to take a helicopter and be dropped off at the location you’ve sent me, near the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, then we’ll hike from there. Whether or not we find Avonlea, we have to meet back at the foothills for pick up on Sunday."

"Sounds like an excellent plan, Tink. By my calculations, we should be in Avonlea tomorrow, spend the rest of the time studying the ruins and searching The Dark Castle for the dagger," Dr. Gold says, as he looks over the map.

"What’s so special about this dagger anyways?" Belle asks from the back seat.

"I thought you heard stories about the place we’re going, when you ‘chose to come with us anyways’," Dr. Gold sneers.

"Yes, I’ve heard stories," she replies defensive. "But not about the dagger."

"Regina, dearie, please educate our camera woman."

"Yes, Doctor." She opens her computer and shows Belle her copious notes. "You’ve heard about Avonlea and how it was a prosperous city a little ahead of it’s time, kinda like what is said about Atlantis?"

"Yes."

"Well, it was controlled by the sorcerer Zoso, they called him The Dark One. He is said to be the reason why Avonlea was so advanced. He ruled the city in his castle, where he conjured up the most darkest of magic. The people grew tired of his tyranny. So, they raised a mutiny against him."

"What does that dagger have to do with anything?" Belle asks.

"The dagger was the only thing that could kill him and his dark magic, at least that’s what’s said."

"So, they killed him with it?"

"Yes, dearie, they did." Dr. Gold answers. "They were rid of The Dark One and was free, so they thought. Weeks after they killed him, it’s said that he returned." The doctor folds up his map and hands it to Regina sitting behind him. "People started disappearing, getting sick and dying. They searched Zoso’s castle for any sign of him, but anyone that entered, never came out. More and more got sick and disappeared, so people left the city. Everybody thought Avonlea was cursed and it quickly fell into ruin. People forgot about it or too afraid to return, so it was lost."

"This is all just a story," Regina adds. "A myth, but if we find the city and the dagger it’s proof that it’s all real."

"Do you believe that, Dr. Gold?" Belle asks, as she grows more curious.

"The whole cursed thing, I do not. Most likely it was a plague making everyone sick. And as for The Dark One, I do believe he was real, but not as an all mighty sorcerer that can return from the dead. That’s just ridiculous."

"And what about you, Regina?" Belle questions. "Do you believe in the curse?"

Regina nods her head yes.

"She’s terrified of this trip, but she’s my most loyal assistant. She wouldn’t let me go without her and I’m glad that she didn’t."

"Thank you, Doctor." Regina smiles.

"You’re quite welcome, dearie."

Tinkerbell drives for another hour, until they’re miles outside the city of Bucharest. She pulls the car up to a lodge and stops the engine.

"Tink, why have we stopped here?" Dr. Gold quickly asks. The lodge looks to be a place for spending money and the doctor doesn’t like where things are headed.

"This is where we pick up supplies."

"Regina and I brought everything we needed with us. We won’t be buying anything." He firmly lays down the law.

"Doctor, we were in the desert. We’re going to need different things for going out into the forest," Regina interjects.

"You stay out of this, Regina." Dr. Gold snaps at her.

"No, you’re not doing this again.” She fires back at him. “You’re going to buy whatever Tink says we need. God knows you have the money."

Dr. Gold turns in his seat, stares coldly at Regina, then opens his door and steps out of the car. He hates it when she gets feisty.

Tinkerbell follows behind him.

"Should I film the shopping?" Belle asks.

"No, I think it’s best if you don’t. Dr. Gold wouldn’t want to relive spending as much money as he’s about to."

"Is it really that bad?" Belle giggles.

Regina shakes her head yes.

"Why?"

"I thinks it’s because he grew up so poor, saving every cent he had. I guess it’s still a hard habit for him to break."

"Oh, I see."

Belle and Regina sit quietly in the car for a moment.

"Well." Belle breaks the silence. "I’m going to step out and film some of this beautiful forest around us. Would you like to join me?"

"No, but thank you. I’ll have my fill of the forest soon enough." Regina begins typing up her log of today’s events.

"Alright." Belle steps out of the car.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Four ~*~*~*~

Belle re-adjust her glasses and slowly gaze upon the mountain range and forest around her. She films a spectacular view, where the sky, mountains and trees seem surreal almost like a painting. Her contract with Dr. Gold is the first job she’s gotten out of film school and she has never been in a place like this. A little green lizard catches her eye and she calmly walks over to take a closer look.

Dr. Gold comes out of the lodge, alone, and peeks into the car. “Regina, help Tink bring the supplies to the car.”

"You were just in there. Why didn’t you bring anything out with you?"

"I payed for everything, dearie. This is the least you could do."

She sighs and closes her computer. “Okay, Doctor.”

He opens the door for her and she steps out. “Thank you, Regina.” He takes a second peek into the car. “Where’s our camera woman?”

She points him to Belle’s direction, then heads inside the lodge.

Dr. Gold casually strolls up behind Belle and watches her observe the lizard. He admires her interests in the little green reptile. “That’s an European Green Lizard.”

"Oh !" Her heart jumps and she quickly turns around.

"I’m sorry, dearie. I didn’t mean to scare you."

"No, it’s okay. I just didn’t expect anyone to be behind me."

"I see." He slips his hands into his pockets and steps closer to her. "Well, that’s an European Green Lizard. They live in dense vegetation low to the ground. They love to feel the sun on their backs, that’s probably why this little guy is out right now."

Belle smiles at him and laughs to herself. “I thought you were an archaeologist, not a zoologist.”

"What? I can’t have a hobby?" He smirks. "I’ve always had a fascination for reptiles. I study them from time to time."

"It’s good that you have something to do in your spare time."

"Yes." He looks down at the ground. "I want to apologize if I disrespected you earlier. Something happened to Regina and I before our flight. Then we landed, you wasn’t there and I kinda took it out on you."

Belle takes off her glasses. “I probably shouldn’t film this.”

"I forgot those aren’t just glasses." The doctor’s eyes are fixed on her face. It’s the first time he’s seen her without the clunky black glasses on and he thinks that she’s gorgeous.

"Doctor !" Regina hollers in the distance. "Let’s go, Doctor !"

He grins at Belle and turns away.

She grabs his arm, stopping him. “Thank you.”

"You’re welcome."

They walk back to the car together.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Five ~*~*~*~

After another hour of driving, they arrive at the helicopter hanger. The group meets their pilot and board the chopper, flying out to their destination at the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains.

Belle films scenery of the mountain and thick forest below them, as Dr. Gold, Regina and Tinkerbell map out their hike through the Romanian forest.

Dr. Gold turns his attention away from the map and gazes at Belle.

Belle takes her eyes off of the breathtaking beauty of the world beneath them and faces Dr. Gold. She’s unsure why he’s looking at her this way, but it doesn’t bother her as much as she thinks it should.

"Doctor?" Regina rests her hand on his shoulder.

He slowly faces his assistant.

"Did you hear me, Doctor? I said we are going down soon."

"Oh, oh yes, I heard you." He lies. Dr. Gold’s mind was lost, as he was watching Belle.

Moments later, the helicopter lowers and hovers over their drop zone. A ladder tumbles from the chopper and the team climbs down. After everyone is safely on the ground, Tinkerbell radios the pilot. “We’ll see you on Sunday.” They all observe, as the chopper takes off.

"I’m going to scout ahead a few yards. When I come back, we’ll all go together." Tinkerbell straps on her hunting raffle.

"Umm, what’s the gun for?" Belle asks, a little uneasy.

"You must not have been in the a forest before. There’s bears out here. I don’t plan on killing any. The gun is just to scare them away." Tinkerbell treads on her hike alone.

"Oh, god, we’re really doing this." Regina fusses with the buckles of her backpack. "I’ve never been so excited and frightened before in my life."

Dr. Gold places his hands on both of her shoulder and looks into her eyes. “You’re going to be okay, just think about what we came to discover, not your fears.”

She takes a deep breath. “Yes, Doctor.”

"Dr. Gold?"

"Yes, Miss French?" He gives her his attention.

"If it’s alright with you, I think this will be a good place for your intro."

"I think you’re right, Miss French." He looks back into Regina’s eyes. "Sit down and take a breath, dearie."

Regina nods her head and takes a seat on the forest floor, then Dr. Gold paces towards Belle.

"So, how does this work?" He stands before her with his hands behind his back.

"Well, why don’t you stand here." She locks her arm with his and leads him out of the shade.

He’s a little dazed by how she easily took his arm and how she isn’t afraid to get close to him at all.

"The light is better here, Dr. Gold, and you have that beautiful hill behind you." She steps back and sets her position in front of him.

"Okay, so, now how does this work?"

"Just do what you normally do for your documentaries."

He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, then stares at her. “I can’t do that.” He clams up in front of her. With her beautiful blue eyes and heavenly gorgeous face, gaping back at him, it’s all slightly too much at the moment.

"And why not?"

"You don’t have a real camera, Miss French." He uses her camera as an excuse.

"Yes I do." She points at her glasses.

"I can’t… I can’t do this. You’re too distracting." He blurts out the wrong words.

"What?" His words catch her off guard.

"It’s, it’s too difficult for me just look into those weird glasses. I’m used to talking to a camera." He nervously covers up his embarrassing sentence from before.

She snickered to herself over her jumpiness. The serious man from the airport is no where in sight. “Just try it, Dr. Gold.”

"How do those things even work anyways." He changes the subject. "You’ve been bobbing your head everywhere. Isn’t the picture all jittery?"

"I have a software on my computer which eliminates that. Now, if you don’t have anymore question. I think you’d want to get this intro finished, so we can move on." She grins, thinking that his slight awkwardness is cute. After the way they met, the last thing she expected was to see him so unglued.

"So, I’m just supposed to look at you and talk?" The doctor does more stalling.

"Yes, Dr. Gold. That’s how it works." She tries to keep a straight face.

He breathes in deeply, then slowly breathes out and looks into Belle’s eyes. “We’re standing here at the bottom of the Carpathian Mountains, beginning our hunt for the lost ruins of Avonlea to uncover the mysteries of this ancient city.” It takes everything he has to force that out.

Belle smiles proudly and claps her hands. “That was wonderful.”

"That was uncomfortable." He covers his face.

"Oh, that was fantastic, Dr. Gold. All you have to do is pretend I’m the camera."

"That’s easier said than done, dearie."

"Let’s do another take. The first one was great, but we should have another for insurance."

"No, no, one is fine." He cuts his eyes at Regina, still sitting on the ground. "Besides I think Regina needs me." He has to get away from Belle as quickly as he can and hide his embarrassment.

Belle looks over at Regina. “She’s fine. She’s just sitting there.”

"Regina," Dr. Gold calls. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Doctor, I’m okay."

"She’s lying," he says with a fidgety laugh. "We can do this later. For now, just film everything, dearie." He scrambles towards Regina and sits next to her.

"I said I was fine, Doctor."

"Shut up, Regina," he mumbles.

She cuts her eyes at him, but remains quite.

Belle laughs to herself over the way the doctor acted. She thought it was adorable how he turned into a ball of nerves.

Tinkerbell returns to the group and they all begin their hike through the forest together.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Six ~*~*~*~

They walk for miles, traveling deeper into the uncharted forest, precisely following Dr. Gold’s calculations. Belle pursues Dr. Gold’s instructions, filming every step and every stop they make. The sun starts to set on their first day in Romania and the team ends their hike for the night.

"This seems like a good place to spend the night." Tinkerbell drops her bag on the ground.

"Great, I thought we’d never stop." Regina tosses her bag down.

"Quit being so dramatic, Regina. You know we always stop." Dr. Gold looks at his phone. "With the coordinates I set, we should be in Avonlea tomorrow. If we get up early and keep a good pace, we’ll be there by late afternoon." He glares at everyone, as his face lights up. "The closer we get, the more exciting this becomes. Tomorrow, we’ll be the first people to set eyes on Avonlea in centuries and that’s truly amazing."

Belle admires the passion he shows, as he speaks about Avonlea. There’s something about his raw emotion that’s makes him attractive to her.

"Yes, Doctor. I’m just as excited as you are, but right now, I’m really tired. Excuse me while I set up my tent before we lose the sunlight." Regina opens her bag.

"You don’t have a tent in your bag, dearie. There’s only two, Tink and I are carrying them."

"Only two tents? I was hoping to get a bit of time to myself. It’s not that I think any of you are…"

"No need to explain yourself, Regina. I already know how you are." Dr. Gold stops her rambling.

"You can share a tent with me." Tinkerbell suggests. "I’ll be out here for awhile, looking out. By the time I go to bed, you’ll be asleep and won’t notice me. You’ll get your alone time."

Regina sighs in relief. “Thank you so much.”

"It’s not a problem, really."

"Let me help you set up the tent." Regina quickly assists Tinkerbell.

Dr. Gold and Belle turn to each other and shyly grin.

"I hope you don’t mind sharing a tent with me, dearie." He blushes.

"No, why would I mind?"

"I don’t know." He shrugs his shoulders. "But Regina certainly did. She probably has a long list of reasons not to."

"Really?" Belle giggles. "What would one of the reasons on her long list be?"

"Hmm." Dr. Gold thinks for a second. "Probably the fact that we’ve been kicked out of hotels on almost every continent."

"Is that true?" Belle finds that unbelievable.

"Yes, It’s very true."

She giggles again. “Well, I won’t hold that against you.”

Dr. Gold smiles at her, gazing upon her beauty. He wonders if he could ever have a chance to get to know her better. But, he also thinks, how she would never be interesting in a guy like him. She’s so beautiful and he’s feels like a beast next to her.

"Dr. Gold?" Belle slowly waves her hand in front of his face. "Are you alright?"

He quickly snaps himself back into reality. “Umm, we should get this tent up, before we lose the light.”

"Alright, Dr. Gold." She laughs silently to herself, as she takes off her backpack.

The team set up their tents and start a fire, all before the sun gives way to the luminescent glow of the moon. Everyone sits around the flame, as Tinkerbell opens a can and heats it over the fire.

"Oh, what’s that?" Belle asks.

Dr. Gold sits next to Belle and he leans in closer to her. “It’s best not to ask,” he whispers.

Her eyes widen.

"I’m not serious, dearie," he snickers. "They’re just beans."

"Oh, you scared me for a moment."

"I’m sorry, Miss French."

"That’s okay, Dr. Gold." She covers her smile with her hand. Belle doesn’t know why, but since they were dropped off by the chopper, the doctor has been different towards her and she like it.

"You can call me Rumple."

She removes her hand, showing her smile. “And you can call me Belle.”

"Alright, Belle."

"Here you go, Doctor." Regina hands him a bowl.

"Thank you, Regina."

They eat their meal, as Regina and Dr. Gold tell stories of their travels across the world. When everyone is finished, they prepare for sleep and the early hike in the morning.

"How’s that ankle been treating you today?" Regina checks up on the doctor, before heading into her tent.

"It’s fine, dearie." He assures her. "You get inside and write your report. I want to take a look at it before we head out tomorrow."

"Yes, Doctor. Goodnight." She steps into her tent.

"Goodnight." He closes the tent behind her and circles around to Tinkerbell. "Are you sure about being out here alone for a few hours?"

"Yes, Dr. Gold, I’ll be fine. I grew up in places like this, it’s more home to me than the city."

"Alright, dearie. Don’t stay up too late."

"I won’t, Dr. Gold. You sleep well."

"Same to you. I’ll see you in the morning."

Stepping inside the tent, Dr. Gold lays eyes on Belle, looking so comfortable cuddled in her sleeping bag with her computer. He turns his head to the other side of the tent and sees that she has already set out his sleeping bag. It feels unbelievable that she thought about him. “I was starting to think you didn’t have one of those.” He sits on top of his bag.

She glances up at him. “My computer?”

"Yes, I haven’t seen it all day. Regina would be glued to hers if I’d let her."

Belle grins at him. “I don’t really need it while filming. At the end of the day, I just upload the video and review it.”

"Can I see some?"

"Of course, Rumple." She turns her computer towards him and watches his face, as he views the video of the intro she filmed earlier. The small smile that flickers on his face catches her attention and she thinks it’s precious.

"This isn’t that bad, but you were right though, I should have did a second take." He turns the computer back to her. "I guess I misjudged your camera goggles."

"Glasses." She corrects him with a giggle in her voice.

"Oh, right, glasses." He unzips his sleeping bag and crawls in.

She picks up her computer and views more of the video.

Dr. Gold peers at her from behind the screen of her laptop. He takes in her little expressions, as she watches more of the video. He thinks they’re a glimpse into her personality and wonders what parts of the film makes her face light up that way. When she takes off her glasses and shuts the computer, Dr. Gold quickly turns away from her.

She notices his abrupt movement, trying to pretend he wasn’t watching. “Goodnight, Rumple,” she says, only to let him know that she saw him.

"Oh, goodnight, Belle." He can’t believe she saw him. He thought he was quicker than that. "And thank you for setting out my sleeper." He tries to it pass off, as if he doesn’t care she saw.

"You’re welcome," she snickers and rests her head on her pillow.

They both drift to sleep.

Later in the night, Dr. Gold is awaken by the chattering of shivering teeth. He turns around and sees Belle trying to keep herself warm. “Are you alright, dearie?”

"Yes, I’ll be fine, just a little cold." She shivers.

Dr. Gold watches and he can’t stand to see her suffer. “Umm, Regina and I have been in some of the coldest climates. She doesn’t like the cold much and we sleep close together to share body heat. Only if you want, you can sleep by me and be warmer.”

"Yes," she answers with no hesitation and immediately crawls out of her bag into his. She rests her head facing him and lays her sleeping bag over them both.

"Whoa, that was fast."

She grins, bundling up between him and the two sleeping bags. “Well, I was cold and you were so sweet to offer to help me.”

"Well, I’m happy to help.” He takes a merger scoot away from her. “Feeling better now."

"Yes, a lot better." She turns away from him. "But, can you put your arms around me?"

"What? Are… are you sure?" Dr. Gold is uncertain why a pretty young woman would want his arms around her.

"I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t."

He hesitates for a moment. “Umm, Alright.” He inches closer and slowly wraps his arms around her shoulders.

She nestles into him. “Thank you, Rumple. This is so much better. Goodnight, again.”

"Night, dearie."

 

~*~*~*~ Part Seven ~*~*~*~

The morning sun rises and so does the team to continue their search for Avonlea.

Dr. Gold opens his eyes and is quite surprised to find Belle’s head resting on his chest.

She’s snuggles into him with her arm wrapped around him.

He doesn’t know whether to shove her off of him or lightly sneak away. She wouldn’t want to see herself in such a position with a man twenty years older, so he thought. “Belle?” he whispers. Shoving her off of him wouldn’t be the right decision.

She moves, squeezing him tighter and rests one of her legs over his.

He lays motionless and stares at the ceiling of the tent, then he moves the hair out of her face, hoping his soft touch will wake her.

She silently moans in her sleep.

Dr. Gold doesn’t know what to do. He’s actually enjoys the way she feels wrapped around him, her warm breath, breathing through his shirt and the scent of her hair, kissing his nose when he breaths in. He thinks she’s more beautiful up close and without those glasses, which doesn’t match her face. He takes a deep breath and does the only thing he can think of. They can’t stay this way all day. “Belle, wake up, dearie,” he says louder, but not too loud to scare her.

She slowly opens her eyes, realizes her position on top of him and quickly moves from his chest, but not away from him. “I’m so sorry, Rumple. I guess I sleep a little wild.” She rubs her eyes.

Dr. Gold is taken aback, by the fact she didn’t immediately move to the other side of the tent. “It’s alright.” He hands her, her sleeping bag.

Belle takes her sleeper and wraps it around herself. “Thank you, Rumple, for helping me stay warm.”

"No worries. I was a bit cold myself, so you helped me too."

She focuses on his eyes and places her hand over his, squeezing it lightly.

Dr. Gold looks down at their hands. Her delicate palm feels incredible against the hand of a seasoned archaeologist.

Belle stands and sits back on the floor next to her computer, then opens it. “When are we leaving?” she calmly asks.

"As soon as we have breakfast and pack everything up." Dr. Gold stands and rolls up his sleeping bag. "I’ll leave you alone, so you can have some privacy." He steps out of the tent.

Regina steps out of her tent, holding her computer, as Dr. Gold scurries past her. “Doctor, I…”

"Give me a minute, Regina." He rushes towards a large bush.

Her eyes grow wide and she turns away, covering her ears from the sound of the doctor relieving himself.

He walks back towards her, wiping his hands on his pants. “Now, what did you need?”

Regina steps back into her tent, grabs a bottle of hand sanitizer and squirts some in the doctors hands.

"Oh, why thank you, Regina."

"You’re very welcome, Doctor."

"What would I ever do without you, dearie?"

"I dread to find out." She hands him her computer. "Here’s my report."

"Oh, yes, I need to read over what you have recorded," Dr. Gold says, as Belle hurries pass them to the bush.

Regina rolls her eyes and follows Belle with the hand sanitizer.

Belle steps out of the bush and meets Regina holding the sanitizer in her face. “Oh, thanks.”

"No problem." She meets back with the doctor.

"Your report is very good, dearie. Just cut out the part about how I griped when buying supplies and it will be perfect."

"But you did gripe, Doctor."

He gives her a cold stare.

"Okay, okay." She deletes two sentences from her report. "There, they’re gone now."

"Thank you." He gives her back the computer and helps Tinkerbell with breakfast.

After breakfast, changing into clean clothes and clearing their camp area, Tinkerbell shows them to the fresh water spring she found. Everyone fills their water bottles, then begin today’s long hike. Belle films everything and even manages to get Dr. Gold to talk to her more for the documentary. He’s still uncomfortable not talking to a larger camera, his excuse is working perfectly. He can’t possibly tell her the real reason why he gets choked up. But the more time he spends with Belle the more relaxed he feels around her.

Hours pass, as they tread a few more miles, then suddenly out in the distance is their first sign of Avonlea and the group excitedly rushes towards the dilapidated pillar.

"Oh, wow ! It’s beautiful." Dr. Gold admires the structure. "Regina, give me the camera."

She takes off her backpack and searches for the doctor’s camera.

"Hurry up." He pushes her to move faster.

"Doctor, the pillar isn’t going anywhere." She finally finds the camera and gives it to him.

He snatches it and immediately starts snapping pictures. “Look at that amazing Gothic architecture. So beautifully detailed.” He snaps a dozen more photos. “Regina, take samples,” he orders.

"I’m already on it, Doctor."

He glances down at her. “Oh.” Then continues taking photos.

Belle holds in her laughter at the scientists intense energy. She’s never seen anyone so excited over stone.

"Regina?"

"Yes, Doctor?" She labels a bag and places a stone inside.

"Just by looking at the style of this pillar, how would you date it?"

She stands and takes a closer look at the details. “Umm, thirteenth or fourteenth century?”

"That’s my girl." He smiles proudly. "Oh !” He does a little hop. He’s filled with so much excitement, he doesn’t know what to do with it. “We are very, very close to the city."

"How far away do you estimate, Rumple?" Belle asks and takes a few stills of the pillar for herself.

"Maybe, thirty minutes, more or less.” He tosses the camera back at Regina. “This is just the tip of the iceberg, dearie." He walks swiftly up the trail. "Keep up, Regina !"

Regina hangs the camera around her neck and picks up her bag of stones, afterwards she dashes to catch up with the doctor.

Belle and Tinkerbell smile at each other, then follow the vivacious archaeologists.

Another hour of walking and they make it to what use to be the entry to the city of Avonlea. The landscape is full of collapsed buildings, with overgrown forest plants blooming out of the structures. Trails of man made stone roads that the forest has claimed as it’s own. Far off into the distance, sitting on top of a lonely hill is The Dark Castle, which looks to be untouched by nature and time.

"Holy shit !" Regina’s fears sink to the pit of her stomach. "It’s true."

"Let’s not do this right now." Dr. Gold snaps. "Can we just enjoy this moment without you bring up the curse?" He calms his voice. "We finally found it, after years of research. We’re standing at Avonlea’s gate and it’s beautiful." Dr. Gold is extremely proud in this moment, he can almost cry.

"I’m sorry, Doctor, but look at that." Regina points to the ruins of the city. "Now, look at that." She points to the perfectly preserved castle. "It’s. True."

Dr. Gold ignores her and takes the camera from around her neck, grabs Belle’s hand, then drags her ahead of the group. “Is your camera ready, dearie?”

"Yes, Rumple." She straightens her glasses.

"Good. From this point on, I want you to follow me everywhere. Do not leave my side."

"Alright."

He turns around. “Regina, Tink, don’t just stand back there. Get your asses up here. We have a lot of work to do.” He faces Belle, kisses her cheek out of excitement and walks ahead of her.

Belle stands stunned for a moment, placing her hand over the cheek he kissed. It was truly unexpected, but not unwanted.

"Come on," he says bright eyed like a kid in a candy store.

Belle quickly jumps out of her daze and follows the doctor closely.

Tinkerbell and Regina are not far behind.

Dr. Gold enters the ruined city, then turns to Belle and talks to her, as he’s walking backwards. “We’ll brush through some of the surface, observe the building, take lots of pictures and samples, but not really breaking ground. This trip was more about finding Avonlea and hopefully the dagger, rather than doing any real excavating.”

"Now, Rumple, are you talking to me or the camera?" Belle’s a bit confused, because he seemed very comfortable talking to her.

He stops walking and looks at her. “Well… Both, I guess.”

"Oh, don’t let me stop you, please continue." She marvels at his confidence.

"We’ll come back in a few months, with a larger crew and really start to dig into the city and discover its secrets." He turns forward and snaps pictures of everything he sees.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Eight ~*~*~*~

The team spends the rest of the day, documenting everything they can, until night falls upon them once again. They make camp in what appears to be the center of the city. Dr. Gold believes it was the area where merchants set up their shops. After assembling their tents and eating dinner, they prepare to spend another night in the forest.

"Doctor, I don’t want you doing into that castle tomorrow," Regina boldly states, stopping Dr. Gold from entering his tent. She’s been holding in her feelings all day and she needs to let them out.

"We’ve been over this many times, dearie. I’m going in that castle."

"You’re brilliant and the most remarkable man I’ve ever met, but you’re really stupid. Look at that place. It looks exactly how it did centuries ago, while everything around it is turning to dust."

"Regina." Dr. Gold steps closer to her and places his hands on her shoulders. "Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I’m going into that castle and I’m coming out, proving that there is no curse."

"I hate when you tell me not to worry, Doctor. It makes me worry even more. It’s stupid to go into a place where people have never returned."

"We don’t know if that’s true."

"It is true, Doctor. You found Avonlea, you’re standing in its streets right now. Isn’t that enough proof?"

Dr. Gold hugs her and kisses her forehead. “Go to sleep, dearie.” He steps inside his tent.

When he enters the tent, Belle notices the long look on Dr. Gold’s face. “What’s wrong, Rumple?”

He sits down on his sleeping bag and she crawls next to him. “It’s just Regina. She’s serious about the curse and she’s not going into the castle with me. I’ve never really been anywhere without her.”

"Well, you won’t be on your own." She tries to assure him.

"Yes, I will be, dearie. Regina hooked Tink on the curse bandwagon, so she’s not going either."

"Rumple, you’re not going alone," she says more direct.

He looks at her perplexed. “You’re still going with me? I kinda just assumed you were afraid as well.”

"No, I’m not afraid." She brushes his brown and silver hair out of his eyes. "I said I’d stay by your side."

A half smile lights upon his face. “Thank you, Belle.” He hugs her dearly.

"You’re welcome."

He gently pulls away from her.

She looks into his eyes and takes his hand. Belle is reluctant to act on her feelings, but something is pushing her closer to him and whatever is, it feels pleasant. She feels like she would jump out of her skin, if she doesn’t touch the doctor. She slowly leans into him and without a second thought, kisses Dr. Gold.

He breathes in deeply and melds into her, letting her take full control. He kisses her back, wondering how they ever got to this point. He wanted to kiss her lips long before, but he’s delighted she made the first move.

She breaks off the sweet kiss and licks her lips.

"Mmm," he hums. "What… What was that for?" Dr. Gold says as if he’s returning from a trance.

She brushes her thumb over his bottom lip. “You kissed me first.”

He thinks for an instant, searching his mind for the moment he kissed her, but he doesn’t remember. “No.” He shakes his head. “I wanted to kiss you, but never did.”

"Yes, you did." She giggles. "At the entrance of Avonlea. You kisses me on the cheek."

"Oh." The moment returns to him. "Yea, I guess I did, didn’t I?" He squeezes her hand. "I was so excited about finally getting here, I guess it just seemed like a natural reaction." It’s been awhile since Dr. Gold has been with a woman taking any interest in him. "Did you like?"

"I wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t." She kisses him again and they wrap their arms around each other.

He parts his lips, allowing her to slip her tongue inside and taste his breath. Dr. Gold pulls her closer to him, then he suddenly breaks off the kiss. “We should go to bed, dearie.” He’s unsure of what might happen next, so he wants to stop it before things go any further.

"Yea," she whispers. "I think we should." She reaches over and grabs her sleeping bag.

"Wait, what are you doing?" he asks nervously.

"Getting ready for bed." She grins.

"I see that, but…" He doesn’t know how to finish his sentence.

"Weren’t you going to let me sleep with you again?"

Dr. Gold looks into her eyes at a loss. “You want to?”

Belle laughs to herself, placing her hand on his cheek. “Yes, you kept me so warm last night.” She smiles at him and unzips her sleeping bag.

"Is that the only reason why you want to sleep with me?"

"I would be lying if I said yes."

He humbly grins at her, then climbs into his sleeper.

Belle lays next to him, forgetting to take off her glasses and covers them both with her bag. She faces away from him and he wraps his arms around her, just as they did the night before. “Sweet dreams, Rumple.”

"Goodnight, dearie."

Into the night, Belle shifts in her sleep and presses her body against him. She can feel his hard length rubbing against her and she opens her eyes. Belle gently moves his arm from around her and turns to face him. She places her hand on his cheek and kisses him.

Dr. Gold feels the sensation of her lips on his and he slowly opens his eyes. “Hey,” he whispers. “What are you doing up?”

"You woke me."

"How can I wake you, if you woke me?"

"Well, you didn’t mean to wake me, but." She runs her hand over his bulge.

Her touch takes him completely by surprise and he gasps, scooting away from her, embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”

"Don’t be sorry." She scoots closer to him.

"I guess I’m just a little excited."

"That’s more than just a little excited." She leers at him with seductive eyes.

Dr. Gold doesn’t think she’s in her right mind at the moment and turns away from her.

She sits up and rest her chin on his shoulder, combing his hair out of his face with her fingers. “What were you dreaming about?” she murmurs.

"I don’t remember." He pulls more of the sleeper over him and she pulls it down.

"It must have been a good one."

"Probably, but I really can’t remember." He stares at the wall of the tent, trying not to look at her, afraid if he did, they may end up doing something they’ll regret.

"That’s okay, Rumple." She softly kisses his cheek. "I can help relieve you of your excitement, if you want."

"Why would you do that?"

Belle become conscious of of what she just said. “I’m sorry, Rumple. I don’t know what I was thinking.” She sits up, completely shocked about her actions.

He sits up next to her. “It’s okay.” He places his hand on her shoulder.

She takes his hand kissing it, then she snaps like a whip, turning to him and kisses his lips, roughly raking her hands through his hair, laying him down on his back. She instantly catches on to what shes doing and she quickly jumps off of him. “I’m so sorry, Rumple. I never do things like this.” She acts upon a very strong and unknown desire.

Dr. Gold lays flat on his back, wide eyed and frozen.

"I don’t know what’s come over me." Belle tries to calm her shaking hands

When Dr. Gold gains his strength, he sits up again. “Dearie, I’m a little confused about what this is between us and I see that you are too.

"Yes, very confused."

"It just seems like something is gravitating us towards each other."

"I can feel it and it’s very strong." Belle’s relieved that it isn’t just her.

"If it’s alright with you, we should just go back to bed and forget this happened."

"Yes, I think that’s best."

Dr. Gold lays back down and Belle rests her head on his chest.

"Is this alright, Rumple? I just have this urge and I feel more relaxed when I’m holding you."

"If it makes you feel better, then it’s okay." He wraps his arms around her, curing his yearning to hold her as well.

"Thank you, Rumple." Belle listens to the beating of his heart, as she falls back to sleep.

Dr. Gold tunes in to the sound of her calm breathing. He’s unclear as to what happened tonight, but he’s hoping to start with a clean slate tomorrow.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Nine ~*~*~*~

Belle wakes up alone in the tent, with a nauseating feeling in her stomach. She couldn’t take her mind off of Dr. Gold all night and wanted to be in the doctor’s arms when she opened her eyes, but he wasn’t there. Belle puts her hand to her face to wipe her eyes and realizes she slept in her camera glasses. “Shit.” She quickly takes them off and charges them on her computer. They need to be fully charged, before entering The Dark Castle. Belle steps out of the tent and finds Dr. Gold, Regina, and Tinkerbell hovered together, fascinated over small round objects. “What’s going on?” Belle shields her eyes from the morning sun.

"Dr. Gold was out at the crack of dawn and found some ancient coins." Regina answers.

"One was peeping out right above the surface, then I dug a little deeper and discovered the others." Dr. Gold glances up at Belle. "Where are your glasses, dearie?"

"Oh, I fell asleep in them last night, they’re charging. I can get footage of the coins later."

"Alright." He dust more dirt off of the coins with his brush. "Come here, Belle, and have a closer look at them."

She walks towards the doctor, sits next to him and the cramps in her stomach subsides. “Oh, that’s strange.”

"What’s strange?" Regina asks.

"Nothing I guess." Belle reaches for one of the coins.

"Oh, don’t touch them, they’re very fragile." Dr. Gold stops her.

"I’m sorry."

"No, worries." He gently lifts the cloth the coin is resting on and places it in her palm. "There you go, dearie."

She smiles at him and observes the coin. It’s still covered in centuries of dirt, but the intricate details are visible. “It’s truly beautiful.”

"Yes, it is." He carefully takes it from her and sits it back with the others. "Tink found some wild berries this morning. We all had them for breakfast."

"I’ll have some later. I’m not really hungry after last night." Belle rubs on her belly.

"What happened last night?" Regina suspiciously asks.

"Nothing." Belle and Dr. Gold instantly answer in unison, trying to conceal their odd encounter.

"The way you both said nothing, doesn’t make it sound like nothing."

"Nothing is nothing, Regina. Don’t worry about it."

"You keep telling me not to worry and I don’t like it, Doctor." Regina bends down next to him. "If anything happens to you with this god forsaken curse…"

"Regina, just stop it !" Dr. Gold demands.

Belle glances at Regina. She can tell by the look in her eyes, how frightened she is.

Dr. Gold stands, taking Belle’s hand and helps her up. “Would you like to see where I found the coins?” he calmly asks, holding her hand tightly, as if he might lose her if he ever let her go.

Belle looks down at Regina. “I don’t know if I should.”

"I know you really want too." He gazes at her with his big brown eyes.

"Yes, I do, but…"

"But, what’s stopping you, dearie?"

She’s fixed on the boyish expression on his face and she just can’t turn him down. “Nothing is,” she replies in an instant.

He picks up his case of excavating tool and hooks his arm around Belle’s. “Regina, please put the coins up safely.”

Regina looks up at him with concern and she nods.

Dr. Gold leads Belle to the where he found the coins. He takes her far from camp, much farther than she thought they would ever go, and he stops in front of a large tree, not far from The Dark Castle.

"You walked all the way over here, by yourself, before sunrise?"

"Yes, Belle." He sits his tool case down and takes her hand.

"What made you walk way out here?"

"I don’t know, but I’m glad I did, or I wouldn’t have found those coins." He gets down on his knees, pulling her down with him. He opens his case and takes out a few of his tools. "I’m going to show you how to be an archaeologists." He hands her a brush and small shovel.

"Okay." She snickers.

"Now, you don’t just dig into the ground like you’re planting a garden. You have to slowly uncover each layer." He takes her hand holding the brush and guides it to the hole where he found the coins before.

She brushes over the forest floor with his hand as her guide and it doesn’t take long before they reveal more coins.

"Look, you found another one. Now you can use the shovel to help remove it." He moves his hand from hers.

"Alright, Rumple." Belle uses the shovel to carefully inches out the coin and it come in one piece. "I did it," she says excitedly.

"Yes, you did. Congratulations on your first excavation, dearie."

"Thank you."

They linger in each others eyes for a moment, then they quickly come together like two opposite sides of magnets, kisses each other vigorously, stealing the breath away from the other, with hands tangled in hair. They can’t stop touching each other and they don’t know why, but in this moment, they don’t care.

Dr. Gold slips his hand under her shirt, feeling her soft skin. He digs his nails into her back, scratching her, but not breaking the flesh.

Belle rips open his shirt and caresses the smooth skin of his chest. She sucks on his bottom lip, savoring the taste of him and taking it between her teeth, biting him.

"Oh, fuck !" he groans and pushes her off of him. "What the hell are we doing?" He licks the blood from his lip.

Belle catches her breath. “I don’t know. I… I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She tries to comfort him, but he turns away. “What’s wrong with us, Rumple? Is it the curse?”

"No, not you too ! There is no fucking curse !"

"Then what the hell is it? I feel sick when I’m not close you and all I can do is think about you. We only met a few days ago. This isn’t normal, Rumple !" Belle freaks out.

"I don’t fucking know, but we’re going the find out. It’s not a curse, curses don’t exist. We just have to stay away from each other until then."

"What part of, I feel sick when I’m not close you, did you not understand? I don’t know about you, but I hate feeling sick."

"Okay, okay." He calms himself and wipes the blood from his lip with his shirt. "When did you start feeling sick?"

"This morning when I woke up, I felt nauseated and when I got closer to you it went away."

"How do you know is not something you ate?" Dr. Gold asks.

"I don’t know, but I don’t think it was something I ate. It stopped once I got closer to you and hasn’t came back."

"Alright, all I can say is tell Regina. She has the first aid and she can give you something for it."

"That’s it?" she says frantic.

"Yes, that’s all I can do for now, dearie. I’m already holding back the extreme need to kiss you."

Belle sighs, “Me too.”

They slowly lean into each other, but catch themselves and back away.

Belle picks herself up from the ground and dusts the dirt off of her. She reaches for Dr. Gold to help him up, but he refuses.

"It’s best if we don’t touch each other." He stands and cleans himself off.

"Oh, right." She steps away. "Just to cure my curiosity, is there anything else you know about the curse?"

"Only what Regina and I have told you before. I will admit, there are different variations of the story we told you, but they’re all essentially the same story. Information get lost over centuries, no one knows what really happened here. That’s why being in Avonlea and going into the castle is so important." Dr. Gold strongly states.

"Alright.” She crossed her arms and looks down. “I was just asking." She kicks a small rock that’s in front of her, trying just for an instant, to keep her mind focused on something that isn’t the doctor.

"I know you were and I understand why, but I’m telling you, it’s not a curse."

"Okay, but how are you so sure?"

Dr. Gold just sighs. He has no real answer for her. “Let’s just go back.”

She agrees and picks up the coin she found. “Oh, your shirt.”

He looks down at his shirt and bottoms it, at least the ones that didn’t pop off. Afterwards, they walk back to camp, paces away from each other and in the most awkward silence they’ve ever experienced.

"Doctor !" Regina runs to him. "What the hell happened to you? You look like you’ve been in a bar fight." She takes his hand and drags him into her tent.

"I’m fine, Regina."

She checks the wound on his lip and sits him down on her sleeping bag, then takes out the first aid kit. “If you tell me that one more time… I swear, Doctor…”

"You swear what? What are you going to do !" His words are harsh and full of rage.

She fearfully backs away from him, at a loss of words.

Dr. Gold looks at her frightened face and his anger deflates. “Regina, I…” He takes her hand and brings her closer to him. “I don’t know why I just talked to you like that.” He has never treated Regina so harshly, he’s gotten loud with her, but never like this. He loves her like a father loves his daughter. A small part of him is starting to believe in the curse, but he just can’t bring himself to commit to the theory.

"Doctor, we have to get out of this city. This place is doing things to you." She opens the first aid and starts cleaning his lip.

"No, it’s not."

"What happened to you out there with Belle?"

"I fell, that’s it." He gently takes the cloth from her and cleans his lip himself. "You don’t believe me, do you?"

"Not one word of it."

"You don’t have to believe me. I don’t care if you do or don’t, but we’re not going anywhere until I go into the that castle. As soon as Belle camera goggles are charged, I’m going. Do you understand that?"

She closes her eyes, trying to keep in her feeling. “Yes, Doctor.”

"Good." He stands up. "Belle’s going to need something for her stomach. Can you give it to her?"

She nods.

"Thank you." He steps out of the tent.

Regina takes the painkillers and nausea medicine out if the first aid and follows the doctor outside.

Belle is sitting outside of her tent on her computer, charging her camera glasses and researching curses, but not finding anything useful.

Regina drops the medicine by Belle’s feet. “I didn’t know which ones you needed.”

Belle shuts off her computer and looks up at Regina. “Thank you for the pills.” She picks them up.

Regina takes a seat next to her. “What happened to the doctor?” she asks sternly.

"Umm, didn’t he just tell you?"

"I’m asking you."

"Umm." Belle is hesitant to tell the truth, but instead she tells the most obvious lie she could think of. "He fell."

"That’s exactly what he said, but you know what? You’re worse at lying than him." Regina stands and walks away.

Belle takes the medicine and the morning moves on. The pills do nothing for her symptoms and now she is more certain that this is the workings of a curse. She needs relief from this discomfort, so she puts on her glasses and searches for Dr. Gold. She’s hoping by working with him, she can be rid of this feeling in her stomach and the work will keep them busy from trying to do other things. She finds Dr. Gold at the entry to Avonlea, taking more detailed photos of the cities gates. “You haven’t been doing much work today.”

"I can’t get any work done when all I do is think about you, dearie." He snaps a picture of her. "That’s for the one you took of me at the airport." He smirks. "What are you doing here anyways? I told you to stay away."

"Yes, I know, but the pills Regina gave me aren’t working and I needed this feeling to go away. I figured if we worked together, I wouldn’t have this uncomfortable feeling, we could also get some work done and keep our minds off of… well, you know."

"Yes, I do know. The things I want to do to you right now…" He gasps, stopping himself from finishing.

"What kind of things, Rumple?" she asks seductively.

"I thought you’d never ask." He drops his camera and steps closer to her. "I would pen you between me and that tree…"

Belle slaps him across the face.

"Shit ! What was that for?"

"We were doing it again."

"Oh, I’m sorry." He rubs his cheek. "Thank you for that."

"You still don’t think this is the curse messing with us?"

"Well, a part of me does…. Wait." Dr. Gold suddenly realizes something about her. "You’re wearing your glasses?"

"Yes, I’ve had them on the whole time. You haven’t noticed?"

"No, I wasn’t looking at your face." His eyes grow wide and he covers his mouth.

"What are you? Some kind of beast?" Belle is disgusted.

"Like you can talk," he sneers. "You haven’t been little miss perfect. You weren’t looking at my face either."

Belle is completely shocked at his allegations, but unexpectedly admits that he is right. “If you weren’t wearing those tight jeans, fitting snugly in all the right places, maybe I would look at your face.” She quickly covers her mouth.

"What the hell are we arguing about?" he yells. "Alright, dearie, just listen. Your camera is charged, right?"

Belle nods her head yes.

"In one hour we are going into The Dark Castle. I don’t care how long it takes, we’re not leaving it until we find something about this curse and the dagger. One hour, okay, dearie?"

She nods again.

"Okay, go get your stuff ready. I’ll be back at camp after you."

Belle quickly leaves.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Ten ~*~*~*~

Dr. Gold returns to camp forty-five minutes after Belle. He wanted to give her time to have her supplies packed, so they wouldn’t be alone in their tent together and he didn’t want them acting strange in front of the others. “Belle?” he calls, standing outside of the tents entry.

Tinkerbell and Regina watch him confused. They don’t understand why he just doesn’t step inside.

"Belle?" he calls again.

"Yes," she finally answers. "I’m coming out."

"Alright." He backs away from the tent.

Belle steps out, buckling her backpack. “What took you so long?”

"I had to give you enough time to pack, so that we won’t be alone… in there," he whisper the last two words, as he points at the tent.

"Oh, oh yes." She nods.

"How are you feeling?" he asks with deep concern.

"I’m alright, now that you’re here. My stomach was a bit uncomfortable."

"I’m sorry I made you wait."

"It’s okay, I understand."

Dr. Gold gives her a little smile, before going into the tent.

"Belle?" Regina stops her. "What are you doing with all of that stuff?"

"Oh, umm, Rumple… He didn’t tell you?"

"No, Dr. Gold hasn’t told me anything lately. He’s been glued to you like a love sick puppy."

"That’s not what’s been going on between us." Belle nervously laughs. "We’ve… I’ve… Umm… He’s…" Her heart races.

Dr. Gold steps out of the tent.

"Oh, thank god," Belle groans, rolling her eyes in relief and slips away from Regina and the doctor.

"What’s going on?" Regina cries.

Dr. Gold drops his bag. “Regina, you know exactly what’s going on.”

She looks Dr. Gold square in the eyes. “Yes, Doctor, I do.”

"Then stop being a drama queen," he sternly states.

She cuts her eyes away from him and sighs. “Yes, Doctor.”

He kisses her cheek and hugs her tightly. “I’ll see you when I come back,” he whispers.

"How long should I wait, before we can pronounce you dead?"

"That’s not funny, Regina." He pulls away from her and grins. "Okay, that’s a little funny."

"But seriously, Doctor, when are you coming back?"

"Tonight, but if we don’t find anything, we’ll be back tomorrow. I promise."

"Okay, I believe you, Doctor."

"That’s my girl." He kisses her cheek again and turns to Tinkerbell. "Will you take care of her while I’m gone?"

"Of course, Dr. Gold. We’ll see you when you get back." Tinkerbell replies and shakes the doctors hand.

Dr. Gold picks up his bag by the tent and goes to Belle. “Ready to get going?”

"Yes, Rumple."

They begin their march to The Dark Castle.

"Wait !" Regina stops them before leaving camp. She rushes to Belle and whispers a message in her ear.

Belle watches Regina with an alarming expression on her face, as she heads back to camp.

Dr. Gold and Belle tread a few yards away from camp, then he became curious about Regina’s message. “What did she say to you?”

"Regina? Well…" Belle clears her throat. "She kinda threatened me."

"What?" He can’t believe Regina would do something like that.

"She said if anything happened to you, while we’re in the castle, I’ll regret it."

"She said that to you?" Dr. Gold is stunned.

"Yes, Rumple, she did."

"She didn’t mean anything by it, dearie." He assures Belle. "She cares about me and she’s just upset. I’ll talk to her about."

"I know she didn’t. She just needs someone to be angry with and I just happen to fit the description."

Dr. Gold is amazed by how understanding Belle is. He quickly kisses her cheek and walks ahead of her.

Belle stops and smiles, as her cheeks turn rosy, then she catches up with the doctor. “Thank you,” she says and they continue on their hike.

Dr. Gold and Belle walk an hour from their camp to The Dark Castle. When they arrive, they’re in awe at it’s pristine contention, not a brick out of place or cracked. It’s unbelievable how it stood for centuries, without any maintenance, and looks just as it did the day it was built.

"This place gives me the creeps." Belle clings onto Dr. Golds arm.

"I’m getting strange feelings from it too, but I have to admit, it is beautiful."

They walk through the garden and it looks as if a gardener has been keeping it up for centuries. Every bush is perfectly pruned and not a signal flower is starving for water. Belle takes a still of the picturesque scene. She never imagined it to be this astonishing.

They walk up the staircase to the large wooden door and Dr. Gold drops his bag. He stands in front of the door, then straightens his hair and shirt.

"Umm, Rumple? What are you doing?" She stares at him at a loss.

"You’re my camera woman, right?"

"Yes."

"With all of this curse business, it seems you have forgotten we still have a documentary to film."

"Oh." Belle instantly drops her bag and searches for the best position to film the doctor.

"This place truly is beautiful." He gazes at the view once again. "Are you ready, dearie?"

She takes a position with a large view of the castle and Dr. Gold in the scene. “Yes.”

Dr. Gold closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, then looks into Belle camera glasses. “We’ve finally arrived at the castle of The Dark One. It’s walls have stood against the test of time for hundreds of years.” He gesture for Belle to film the garden around them.

Belle just stands watching him, clueless, as his gestures grow more aggressive. “Oh.” She jumps into movement. It took her a moment, but now she knows what he wants her to do. Belle slowly turns, getting a view of everything around them, then she focuses back on the doctor.

"We’re about to enter these impeccable doors and embark on our search for The Dark One’s dagger. And any other treasures that may be hiding inside." He motions for Belle to join him.

She picks up her bag and stands by his side.

"How was that take?" Dr. Gold asks as he swing his bag over his shoulders.

"It was wonderful."

"That’s good. I didn’t want to do it again." He takes a deep breath. "Are you ready, Belle? We’re not going in, until you’re ready."

She stands silent for a moment, staring at the handle of the door. She places her hand on it and takes one last breath. “I’m ready.” Belle pulls on the door… And… It doesn’t open. She looks at Dr. Gold. “Hold on,” her voice is a little shaky. She pulls on it again and the door is still stuck. She yanks and tugs, but nothing. “What the hell?”

"Are you pulling hard enough?"

"Weren’t you just watching, Rumple?"

"Yes, I was." He chuckles to himself. "You’re probably just a bit weak from all of the walking. Let me try, dearie."

Belle steps aside.

Dr. Gold smiles at Belle, as he pulls on the door. “I knew I’d get…”

The door doesn’t open.

"Oh, come on !" he cries, frantically pushing, pulling and tugging at the handle, just as Belle did before.

She places her hand over his, trying to calm his frustration. Suddenly, the door unhinges, opening without warning and they both fall into the castle, as the door magically slams shut behind them.

"Fuck !" They both roar together.

Dr. Gold picks himself up and helps Belle from the floor. “You okay?”

"Yes, yes I’m fine." The camera glasses has fallen off of her face and she picks them up to checks if they’re broken.

"Is your camera alright?" Dr. Gold asks, as he opens his bag and takes a flashlight out.

"Yes it’s alright, nothing’s broken." She checks on the computer in her bag and sighs in relief. "Everything is fine." She buckles her bag and dashes back to the door. "It won’t open again."

"Did you notice it, Belle? It only opened when we both touched the handle."

"Yes." She takes a step back. "I guess I did see that."

"Stay close to me, dearie." He takes her by the hand. "I wonder what other doors we’ll have to open together."

They start their journey, further into The Dark Castle.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Eleven ~*~*~*~

Dr. Gold and Belle walk down the long corridor and enter a grand room. It’s filled with furniture, that looks original to the castle, a long hand carved wood table with chairs at each end, a large rug woven with elaborate details, and the walls are covered in art. The entire castle is clean, without a signal speck of dust in the air.

"Is this all real?" Belle is floored by the rooms magnificence.

Dr. Gold is wide eyed and speechless.

They take an instant to absorb the rooms splendor, then slowly move ahead.

"Your camera goggles are getting all of this right?"

”Glasses.” She corrects him. “And yes, they are.”

"Good, because this is unbelievable." He holds her hand tightly.

"Are you starting to believe it’s a curse now?"

"I have no doubt that it is." Dr. Gold leads her up the staircase.

"Where are we going?"

"I feel like I’m being lead somewhere."

"What !" Belle let’s go of his hand and stops. "You’re just going to follow where it leads you? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Well, I just figured it wants us to find something."

"Of course it wants us to find something. It’s a god damn curse !"

"Hey, I’m not an expert on curses, dearie."

"I know you’re not, but have some fucking common sense."

"Fine, I’ll follow where you want to go." He steps behind her. "Lead the way." He gently pushes her forward.

Belle walks up the stairs, with the doctor close behind her. They go down another long hallway, passing a dozen closed doors. She leads them to a large chamber door at the end of the hall. “I think we should start here.” Belle turns and faces the doctor.

"What made you stop here?"

"I don’t know. When I saw the door, it seemed like a good place to start and it’s a lot better than wherever the hell you were going."

"I hate to break it to you, dearie," Dr. Gold says smugly. "But this is where I was going."

"Why didn’t you stop me?" Belle is furious and she wants to slap him across the face, or the ass. She’s really confused, but all she knows is she just wants to smack him.

"It lead us both here, let’s just see what it wants us to find, okay?"

"Alright." She puts her hand on the handle. "Should we open it together?"

"Yes." He places his over hers and they push on the door.

The heavy door swings open, revealing a massive bedroom. There’s an impressive canopy bed in the center of the room, with golden silk, draping down from it’s canopy. The bed is filled with soft silk pillows, with a signal rose laying on top of the plush, thick comforter. There are two tables on both sides of the bed, with one lit candles on each of them, and a colossal balcony on the right end of the room.

"Eesh !" Belle quivers. "It looks like something out of a bad romance novel, or fan-fiction."

Dr. Gold turns to Belle. “What’s fan-fiction?”

"You don’t want to know." She steps into the room, tosses her bag on the bed and takes a look around. "Why do you think it wanted us to find this?"

"I think I know why." Dr. Gold stands behind Belle, placing his hands on her hips and pressing his body against her. He moves the hair off of her shoulders and softly kisses her neck.

"Mmm." She slowly turns around and wraps her arms around his neck. "Oh, Rumple." She gently kisses his lips.

Dr. Gold picks her up, wrapping her legs around him and takes her to the bed. Then all of a sudden, he drops her down on top of it, catching on to what he’s doing.

"Hey !" Belle struggles getting up from all the pillows he dropped her in.

"I’m sorry, Belle, but I just realized what I was doing. We need to quickly look around and get out of here."

"Why don’t we just leave?"

"There might be something in here, besides our need to touch each other." He searches through the drawers of the table next to him. "Go check the other one, dearie."

"Alright." She fights through the pillows to the other side of the bed. "Rumple, this castle is enormous and there’s only two of us. How are we going to find anything?" She opens all the drawers and they’re empty.

"I don’t know, Belle." He slams the drawers shut. "But I know the dagger has a part in this curse. If it was used to kill The Dark One, then it can probably be used to break the curse."

"Well, yea, that makes sense." Belle wrestles through all of the pillows and stands from the bed, then she tosses the pillows on the floor. "If we’re going to find this dagger, we need to turn over every room we enter." She pulls off the bedding."

"Good idea." Dr. Gold checks underneath and behind the table. "Try not to break anything, okay? All of this stuff is still apart of history."

"Alright, Rumple." She pulls on the sheet and it rips. "Oops."

Dr. Gold glares at her.

"I’m sorry. It won’t happen again."

"I hope not."

They search every corner of the room and find no clues about the curse or the dagger. So, they move on to inspect other rooms.

They work their way down the hall and explore the rooms they passed before, as Belle continues to document everything with her camera glasses. They go through every book, drawer and look behind every painting of the rooms they enter. Uncovering hundreds of pieces of jewelry and trinkets, but none of them are as important as the dagger. They search for hours desperately seeking to find answers and each hour that passes by, it becomes more difficult for them to fight off their lust for the other.

The curse is beginning to take it’s toll.

As their going through one of the last rooms in this wing of the castle, skimming through the pages of books in a small library, Belle starts to feel the cramping in her stomach return. She falls back in the chair behind her and drops the book she’s holding on the floor.

Dr. Gold rushes to her side. “I know you told me to stay six feet away from you, but I couldn’t just stand back there.”

"It’s okay, thank you for checking on me." She cradles her stomach. "I don’t know what’s wrong. We’re here together."

"It’s getting dark and we’re not finding anything. We should head back to camp. There’s no reason for you to stay the night here like this." He takes her hand and the pain in her tummy instantly stops.

"Rumple, the pain is gone."

Dr. Gold is relieved. “Oh, good.” He let’s go of her hand and her pain slowly creeps back.

Belle holds onto her stomach again. “I think it’s changing.”

"How?"

"I think the pain only goes away when we touch."

"What the hell? This thing is insane." He doesn’t want Belle to be in pain and he quickly takes her hand. "Let’s go, dearie. I’m getting you out of here."

They surge out if the library, down the staircase and straight to the entry. They place both of their hands on the handle and pull on the door, but it doesn’t open.

"Fuck !" Dr. Gold growls. "Where locked in… Dammit !"

"Now what?" She let’s go of his hand, but quickly grabs it again.

"I don’t know." He leads her back to the grand room. Dr. Gold takes off his bag and sits it on the long table.

"So, we’re just going to stay here?"

"Just for now, dearie. We’ve been working, going through all of those rooms. I think we should rest for awhile, then we’ll look for another way out. If that’s alright with you?"

"I guess that okay, but do you think it’s safe here."

"For the most part, yes. We’ve been here for hours and nothing horrible has happened to us yet. And as long as I keep holding your hand, your pain won’t come back, hopefully." Dr. Gold sits on top of the table.

Belle takes off her bag and jump up on the table next to him.

They sit quietly, holding each others hands, severely trying to keep their lustrous thought and actions to themselves.

Dr. Gold’s mind is racing, thinking about Belle. He need to get himself out if his head. He needs a distraction. “Your camera glasses…”

"Oh, you got it right this time."

He looks down at their hands and smiles. “May I see them?”

"Of course, Rumple." She takes them off and hands them to the doctor. "What are you doing with them?"

"My last will and testament for Regina."

"What?"

"I’m just kidding." He smirks. "It’s something for the documentary." He holds the glasses up, with the lenses facing him. "This is Dr. Rumple Gold and I’m here inside the very creepy, but beautiful castle in the lost, but recently found city of Avonlea. I’m here where a really strange and unpredictable curse has decided to invade the lives of two unsuspecting people."

Belle laughs silently.

Dr. Gold puts on the glasses and looks at Belle. “This is Belle French. My lovely camera person and the other innocent soul this curse is trying to ruin.”

"Are you really going to use this in the doc?"

"I might… Hold on." He let’s go of her hand. "My palm is sweaty."

They both wipe their hands on their pants, then link them back together.

"Tell me Miss French. If you knew what you now know about this trip, would you have changed your mind about going?"

"No."

"Really? Why not?"

"This is my first real job out of film school. I wouldn’t give that up for anything and I’ve been in good company this whole time. Everything we’ve seen so far, are things I’ve never thought I would see. So, if I knew all of this before deciding to go, I’d still say yes."

Dr. Gold is impressed by her response. “That’s a pretty solid answer.”

She leers at him with a smile. “You look hysterical in those glasses.”

"Well, I’ve gotten used to seeing you with them on. Imagine how you look to me without them."

"I imagine I look just fine." She takes the glasses from his face and puts them back on hers.

"You look gorgeous without them." He places his hand on her cheek, but quickly moves it and turns away from her. He peeps at her from the corner of his eye and she’s still reflecting back at him.

Belle places her hand under his chin and slowly turns his face to her. She tilts closer to him, her heart pounding out of her chest, and kisses his lips.

He breathes in deeply, as if it’s their first kiss, embracing her fully into his arms.

She straddles her legs around him, mounting on his lap. Belle bites her bottom lip, as she rasps her hands through his hair. She beams into his eyes through the lenses of her camera glasses and kisses him intensely.

Dr. Gold and Belle can no longer fight off what’s been pushing them together. They know that their actions are perverse, but the hunger to cure their lustrous appetite has reached it’s breaking point.

Belle parts her lips and he slips his tongue inside, tasting her warm breath. She kisses the edge if his lips, then his cheek and nibbles on his earlobe. “Are we really doing this?” she mutters.

"I don’t want to stop," he responds, breathy.

She kisses down his neck, unbuttoning his shirt and brushes her hand over his smooth chest. “I don’t want to stop either,” she speaks into his neck. She pulls his shirt out of his pants, taking it off and drops it to the floor. Belle feasts her eyes on his body for the first time and she’s captivated.

Dr. Gold scales his hands down her back, slips them under her shirt and caresses her silky skin. His cock grows thick, with the friction of his jeans, as she steadily rocks against him.

She licks and sucks on his nipple and twists the other between her fingers.

His eyes widen to the thrilling sensation. “Oh, Belle,” his voice is thick with desire. Dr. Gold briskly lifts her, stands up from the table and sits her on top.

She kicks off her shoes, unbuckles his belt and cups the front if his jeans, filling her hand with his bulge.

"Ahh," he whimpers with his eyes closed tightly.

Belle releases her grip, unbutton his pants and they slump on the floor.

He steps back and takes off his shoes, with his pants and he almost tips over.

"Be careful, you don’t want to fall." She giggles.

"I won’t fall, dearie." His eyebrow arches, as he stands before her naked.

She admires his body, his hard cock fully erect, just for her. He may be twenty years older than her, but she still thinks he’s beautiful. “Come here, Rumple.”

They quickly come together, kissing each other zealously, savoring the taste of the other.

Belle takes his length in her hand and strokes him.

He restlessly unbuttons her shirt, he can’t get it off fast enough. As soon as its unbuttoned, he ravages her breasts with open mouth kisses. He slides his hand under her bra, massaging her.

She arches her back, supporting herself with one hand on the table, as the other’s wrapped around his cock, working him from hilt to tip.

Dr. Gold’s hand falls from her breast to the button of her jeans. He unbuttons her pants, sliding his hand into them and curling his fingers in her mound of hair. He dips his fingers between her moist folds and feels the heat of her sex. He rubs his finger over the hard bud at the tip of her.

Her body shivers to his touch.

He buries his face into her neck, as he slowly eases his fingers in her opening.

"Rumple," she moans.

Dr. Gold takes his hand out of her pants and smells his fingers, relishing her aroma. “Oh, Belle,” he whispers and quickly plants his hands on her waist, pulling down her pants.

She helps him remove the pants, then jumps down from the table, gaping at him, with her eyes consumed with lust. Belle kisses him passionately, turning him around and pushes him towards the table. “Lay down,” she commands.

He instantly complies, sitting on the table and laying down on his back.

Belle removes her shirt and climbs on top of him, face to face. “Are you ready for me, Dr. Gold?” her voice is low and smoky. Without giving him a chance to answer, she glides his dick into her slippery folds and pounces on top on him, driving his cock deep inside her.

He groans loudly, but not words, only animalistic grunts.

She arches her back, bracing herself on his legs, grinding her cunt against him, taking full control and having him right where she wants him. She starts to pounce on him again, fucking him harder. Belle dips her fingers into her folds, then force them into his mouth, making him taste her and showing her dominance.

He sucks on her fingers, allowing her to do whatever she wants with him. Dr. Gold scales his hands up her belly and between her breasts. Her flesh is warm and delicate to his touch. He can’t get enough of how luscious she feels.

She leans forward and greedily kisses him, tasting herself on his lips. Belle thrusts her hips against him faster, clutching the walls of her opening around his cock. “Fuck me, Rumple,” she demands, giving him control over her.

He quickly turns her over on the table, pulling himself out of her and climbs down. He tugs her up by the arms and turns her around, bending her over the table. Dr. Gold spreads her legs, leans over her from behind, kissing her cheek and nipping at her neck, as his hard cock brushes against the brim of her folds. “Are you ready for me, dearie?” his hot breath murmurs in her ear. And just as she did to him, he takes his dick, pushing it inside her fast and deep, before she could answer.

"Oh… Fuck !" her voice is tremulous and echoes through the room.

He grips her hips, plunging every inch of him in and out of her.

"Ahh… Rumple…" She dips her hand between her thighs, grazing her fingers over her pearl, working herself into orgasm.

Dr. Gold’s head falls back in pleasure, as he desperately holds back the will to come. He wants to come inside her, he’s going to come inside her, but not yet. He needs to ride her until she screams for him to stop. He removes her hand from her legs and places it back on the table. “No touching,” he demands, gravelly. He wants to hear her beg.

"Oh… Oh, fuck," she whimpers, fighting the urge to touch herself. "Touch me, Rumple… I need you to touch me," she pleads.

He pumps inside her harder and makes her wait. He lifts her up from the table and sucks on her neck, pounding her from behind. Dr. Gold gently push her back down, then reaches around her and slips his hand between her thighs, massages her clit and her body spasms. He gives her exactly what she wants.

The thrusts of his cock and the titillating sensation of his fingers, are spreading her too thin. Belle has reached her climax. Her body quakes with the ripple of her orgasm and she comes. “Ahh… F-f-fuck !” The juices of her sex, drips down the inside of her thighs.

Dr. Gold can sense the energy of her sensual release, but he doesn’t stop fucking her. He plunged inside her with hunger, deeper and faster. He’s like a beast gripping and clawing at her hips, rocking her body against him.

Belle can no longer take it, as he rapidly thrust inside her. He drives her into another orgasm and she loses control, trembling again. “Rumple… Please… Stop… I… I…” she weeps.

Those are the words he needed to hear. Dr. Gold finally releases himself, coming inside her, strong. “Ahh !” he growls, with his eyes closed tightly, as his body tenses and trembles. After letting go all that he had, he collapses on top of her, with his cock still inside.

The milky extract of both of them trickle down Belle’s legs and the grand room of The Dark Castle fills with the musk of sex.

Dr. Gold catches his breath and pulls out of her, before he softens. He sits on top of the table, then falls back.

Belle gains her strength, slowly picking herself from the table, still shivering with orgasm. She pushes her glasses up on her nose and crawls onto the table, collapsing in the doctor’s arms.

Neither of them say a word. They’ve never had such savage sex before. Something animalistic took over them both and they know it was the curse. They’ve given into their temptations and they’re not sure of what’s going to happen next. Dr. Gold and Belle lay silently, thinking about what they’ve done, until they fall asleep.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Twelve ~*~*~*~

An hour later, Belle awakes in the doctor’s arms, wrapped in a sleeping bag. She sits up, places the sleeper over his naked body and hops down from the table. Belle picks up her clothes and hastily puts them on, as Dr. Gold wake from his sleep.

“Hey you.” He rubs his eyes, still a bit groggy.

She immediately covers herself.

He squints at her puzzled. “Why are you covering yourself, dearie? We’ve already seen each other.”

She quickly finishes dressing, then takes her bag off the table. “We need to get out of here.”

He breathes out heavily and nods. “Okay.” He pulls the sleeping bag off and stands from the table, then picks up his clothes from the floor. He dresses, folds the sleeping bag, ties it to his backpack and puts it on. “Let’s find a way out.”

The intense longing and yearning for each other, that they had before, is now gone.

Dr. Gold reaches for her hand and she moves it away.

"My stomach is find now." She walks ahead of him.

"Wait, Belle." He grabs her arm. "Let’s talk about it."

She quickly turn to him. “There’s nothing to talk about, Rumple. We fucked and it’s over. We did exactly what it wanted us to do.”

"Yes, we messed up.” He glares into her eyes. ”But I don’t regret it, do you?"

"Rumple, if we didn’t have this curse hovering over us, I don’t think I would regret it." She places her hand in his cheek. "Now that we’ve given in, I’m afraid of what’s going to happen next."

"I’m not going to let anything happen to you." He leans in to kiss her, but she turns away. "Alright, dearie." He takes a step back. "We’re going to find our way out, but not without the dagger. I know it has something to do with this curse. Whatever we’ve done, the dagger is the key to breaking it.” Dr. Gold leads the way out of the grand room and Belle follows.

"If we’re going to continue looking for the dagger, shouldn’t we start where we left off?"

“I don’t think we’re going to find what we’re looking for in those room. There’s more to this whole thing and whatever it is, it’s not going to be easy, dearie.”

"Umm, wait.” Belle places her hand on his shoulder and he turns to her. "I kinda have an idea of where we should go.

“Alright, what’s your idea?”

“You know how in movies, they always find the evil person’s layer in the lower levels of the castle.”

"Oh, god, Belle." Dr. Gold sighs and rubs his eyes. "This isn’t a movie."

“I know that,” she replies vexed. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t learn from movies and I think it’s a great lead.”

“Okay, Belle. We can try to find the lower levels to this place. Just make sure your camera goggles film everything.”

She’s a little annoyed that he keeps calling her glasses, goggles. “So, we’re back to that?”

“Back to what, dearie?” he asks, puzzled.

"Nothing." She rolls her eyes. "Lets just go.” She walks ahead of him. "And yes, my camera glasses are getting everything.”

They go through several passageways, searching for a staircase to the lower levels of the castle. After nearly thirty minutes of walking down long foyers and entering a few rooms, they finally find a staircase leading underneath The Dark Castle.

Dr. Gold illuminates the staircase with his flashlight, as they descend to the lower chambers.

Belle quickly grips his hand, as they pass the last step. “It’s more creepy down here, than it is up there.”

"Well, you wanted to come down here, dearie." He lightly squeezes her hand. "I’m glad you did. Look." He points to a signal lit torch and suddenly, a dozen more torches, magically, light up across another narrow passageway. Dr. Gold turns off his flashlight.

"I told you, you could learn something from movies." She bumps shoulders with him and smiles brightly.

"Is that your way of gloating?"

"Maybe." She gives him a smug look. "Let’s see where this takes us."

They walk several feet, before Dr. Gold stops Belle. “Just a second.” He steps in front of her and looks into the camera lenses of her glasses. “We’ve made it to the lowest level of the castle, continuing our search for the dagger and a way out. Upon entering this part of the castle, these torches.” The doctor points to the row of flaming lanterns.

"Rumple?" she whispers.

He faces her. “What, Belle?” he whispers back.

"Look behind you."

"What? … Why?" He gapes at her, lost, but instantly realizes. "It must be something I don’t want to see," he softly answers his own questions.

She nods her head yes.

Dr. Gold slowly turns around to find nothing behind him. “Belle, why were you whispering? There isn’t anything here.”

"Look at the floor and the ceiling."

The dirt floor they’ve walked on has turned into stone ahead of them and etched in the stone bricks are letters. The ceiling above the stone floor, is lined with large sharp iron spikes and passed this unexpected obstacle, the rest of the passageway is clear.

"Holy, shit !" the doctor stammers.

"You sound just like Regina."

"Where do you think gets it from."

They both fearfully stare at their problem ahead.

"I’ve played enough video games in my life, to know that we’re fucked." Belle drops her bag.

Dr. Gold gets down on his knees to observe more closely at the letters on the stone. “These aren’t just random lettering.”

"It’s not?"

"Nope, not at all." He stands, with a grin on his face. "It’s Latin and hidden in there is our way across."

Her eyes widen. “You can decode it?”

"Possibly." He bends back down on his knees and further examines the stones. "Do you see how all the stones are cut jaggedly?"

"Yes, they’re all different shapes, except for the ones in the middle. There cut on a straight edge, so the stones look separated into two columns."

Dr. Gold looks up at her quite impressed. “You’re absolutely right, dearie. In each column are the exact same jumbling of Latin letters. Whatever word or phrase is in there, my guess is that we have to get across together, just like we had to open all of the doors together.”

"So, once you figure out what words are hidden, we have to step on each letter at the same time?"

"Yes, I think that how it works."

"I hope you’re right, Rumple. I don’t want to be squashed like a snail."

"A snail?" Dr. Gold is befuddled. "Who on earth would squish a snail?"

"You’d be surprised."

"I don’t see why anyone would squish a snail. They’re such delicate creatures." Dr. Gold searches through his backpack for a notepad and pencil. He draws an outline of the stone bricks on his paper and marks each one with the same letters from the stone floor. Now, all he has to do is find the words in the mixed letters.

It doesn’t take long for Dr. Gold to decode the ancient language. He’s studied the Latin for many years and can easily spot the phrase in the stone. “Belle, I think I’ve figured it out.”

"Really?"

"Yes." He shows her the notepad. "I’ve circled where we’ll have to step."

"What does it say?"

"Well, it’s a phrase and a rather odd one, for someone people called The Dark One. The Latin phrase is ‘Amor Vincit Omnia’. Which translates to ‘Love conquers all things’."

"Maybe it’s not that odd. He could have loved someone."

"That’s quite possible, dearie." He picks up Belle’s bag and hands it to her. "Ready to get across this thing?"

"No, not really." Her hands are shaking, as she takes her bag from the doctor.

"We’re going to be okay, Belle." Dr. Gold take her hand to calm her nerves. "It’s not that far. Follow the guide I made and take each step together."

She takes a long, deep breath and breathes out slowly. “Okay.”

They each step up to the path they must take.

"We’ll take each step after I count to three." He let’s go of her hand. "One, two…"

"Wait !" she yells.

"What? What is it?" Dr. Gold shrieks.

"Don’t you need this guide too?"

He puts his hand over his heart, taking fast short breathes. “No, dearie, I don’t. I can read the phrase.”

"Oh, I’m sorry."

"That’s okay and I know you’re afraid, I am too, but please, please ! Don’t do that again."

"I won’t, I promise."

"Let’s try this again. Each step after I count to three, okay, dearie?"

"Yes, Rumple, I got it."

"Just making sure." He wipes his sweaty hands on his pants. "One, two, three."

They take their first step at the same time and immediately look up. The spikes don’t move an inch.

"Oh, god !" Belle trembles.

"It’s alright. We’re going to make it." He assures her with a grin, as his heart races with adrenalin. "Ready for the next one?"

She shakes her head yes.

"One, two, three."

They take the next step and the step after that, looking up to the spiky ceiling each time. They make it unscathed to the last two stones, but Belle accidentally steps on the wrong stone and the iron clad ceiling comes blistering down, to flatten them like bugs.

"Jump !" Dr. Gold screams and they leap the last several feet to the other side of the stones, as the ceiling crashes down behind them, blocking their way back. They land to the other side safely, but the doctor doesn’t land very well on his tricky ankle. "Shit !" he cries in agony.

"Fuck ! " Belle grabs her glasses, puts them back on and picks herself up from the ground. "That was fucking intense." She notices Dr. Gold cradling his right ankle. "Rumple, are you alright?" She rushes to his side.

"I twisted it in the landing. I’ll be fine, dearie."

She helps him up, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry. That was my fault.”

"It’s alright, Belle, we made it across." He removes his arm from her shoulder. "I’ll be fine. I can walk on it."

She gazes at him with concern. “Are you sure?”

"Yes." He limps a few steps forward.

"Okay." She picks up the notepad and puts it into her bag. "I must admit, that was exciting." She steps closer to the doctor and kisses him passionately, talking his breath away. Relieving herself from that little rush of energy she got from their brush with death. She breaks the kiss and he gawks at her with wide eyes. "Thank you for getting us across safely."

"Uhh." He swallows hard. "You’re… Y-y-you’re welcome," he stutters and clears his throat. "Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?"

"I was never upset with you, Rumple. Just with myself."

"Why were you upset with yourself?"

"I thought I could be stronger than that. Instead, I gave in."

"You are strong, dearie. Don’t doubt yourself. We both gave in, but we’re trying to fix it now."

Belle thinks he’s truly sweet to try to reassure her. She smiles at him, takes his hand and they tread through the rest of the passageway together.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Thirteen ~*~*~*~

They arrive at the end of the passageway and stand in front of another large door.

"I hope whatever’s on the other side is a way out. We can’t go back."

"I know, Belle, but whatever is behind here, it’s another step closer."

Dr. Gold and Belle place their hands on the handle, pushing open the door together. They step into the chamber and gazes upon a room full of decaying books, covered with dust and cobwebs, as the door abruptly slams behind them. They swiftly grab for the handle and the door doesn’t budge.

"I hate this place." Belle kicks the door.

Dr. Gold places his hand on her shoulder. He understands that she is scared and frustrated, he is too, but he gently tries to calm her. Kicking the door isn’t going to help.

After Belle relives some of her anger on the door, they turn and observe the chamber closely.

On the right side there’s a fireplace with a massive cauldron inside. The center of the room has tables and cabinets covered with veils and flasks, filled with mysterious liquids and powders.

“This is unexpected.” Dr. Gold limps up to one of the tables and runs his hand across the decades of dust.

“This place looks like a science lab.” Belle picks up one the of the veils and looks through the dingy liquid inside.

“I wouldn’t touch any of those,” Dr. Gold warns her. “They may be old, but we don’t know what’s in them.”

“Oh, okay.” She quickly puts the veil down. “Why isn’t this room like the rest of the castle?”

“Hmm, I don’t know, but I think this may be one of the rooms, if not the only place, Zoso practiced his magic.” Dr. Gold examines the room. “This might not have been protected by the curse. We should look around. There has to be a reason why we had to walk through hell to get here.”

“You think something’s hidden?”

“There has to be, dearie. Why else would that spiky ceiling of death be out there.”

“You’re right about that,” Belle replies and they immediately get to work on searching the decrepit chamber.

Belle pulls a book down from the shelf and the pages disintegrate in her hands. She quickly covers her nose and mouth, with her shirt, to protect herself from the crumbling book.

“Careful with those books, Belle.” Dr. Gold hobbles around the room, hunting through drawers and cabinets, seeking for any sign to help them discover the dagger.

They search over every inch of the room, finding nothing, but dusty rotting books and old magical potions.

“I don’t think there’s anything here, Rumple.” Belle dust the dirt off of her shirt and cleans the lenses of her glasses.

“Where has to be something. Let’s move around some of this furniture.” He tries to push a large heavy desk, by himself, and Belle rushes over to help him. They move the desk, but nothing is underneath and they begin to shift the rest of the furniture. Dr. Gold and Belle turn the chamber upside down, desperately looking for something, anything, connected to the curse or dagger.

“Ugh, this is a lot of work, Rumple.” Belle takes off her backpack and wrestles through it to find her bottle of water. “Great ! Now, I’m out of water.” She tosses her empty bottle across the room. It bounces off the wall and hovers over a small area of the floor. Belle gawks at the floating bottle, awestruck. “Rumple?” she mutters.

“Yes, dearie, I have some water for you.” He takes off his bag and looks through it for his water jug.

“Well, I do really want some water, but my concerns just switched to something else.”

“And what would that be?” He limps towards her.

“I’m pretty concerned about that floating bottle at the moment.”

“What?” Dr. Gold turns his head and is astonished to see the plastic bottle suspended in the air. “Wow.”

After everything they’ve seen and been through, they’re both still amazed.

“I think you’ve just found what we’ve been looking for, dearie.” He staggers to the bottle and picks it up. He holds it over the area and let’s it go. The bottle sits in the air, just as it did before. “There’s something under this floor.” Dr. Gold gets down on his hands and knees to investigate the floor more closely.

Belle stands beside him and watches.

Dr. Gold runs his hand over the wood floor, feeling for loose boards. “Belle, would you look inside my bag for a pocket knife?”

She picks up his bag and searches for the knife, then heads to the doctor.

“Thank you, Belle.” He opens the knife and carefully scrapes it between the floorboards, easing the board up. “Belle, flashlight.” He holds his hand out, but doesn’t take his attention away from what he’s uncovering.

She turns on the flashlight and shines it into the whole.

“Oh, Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

He peeks through the whole and can see an object lodged inside. “There’s something in here.” He uses his knife to loosen up another board, revealing the object underneath.

“It’s a book.” Belle is surprised. Finding a book under the floor was something unforeseen. After seeing the contentions of all the other books in the room, this one was quite unexpected.

“Yes, it is, dearie, and this one is protected by the cures.” Dr. Gold gently picks it up.

The book’s cover is black leather with a gold spine and a belt that locks the book, but it’s unbuckled. Dr. Gold opens the book and it’s passages are written in Latin.

“Rumple, that’s Latin again, right?”

“Precisely.” He takes the book to one of the tables and fully examines it. He skims over the pages and discovers what the book is. “This is our key to finding the dagger.” He smiles ear to ear. “It’s the hand written accounts of Zoso.”

She beams at Dr. Gold, ecstatic. They finally have a clue to the curse and are another step closer to getting out of the castle.

"I know this diary definitely has everything about the dagger," he says excitedly.

She smiles back at him. “Well, what’s it say. I’m ready to get out of here.”

"Hold on, dearie, hold on. His handwriting is a bit sloppy, but I can still read it. Those goggles are still working, right?"

"Yes, Rumple." She so anxious to hear what he’s about to read, she doesn’t give a damn that he called her glasses, goggles. Belle focuses on him, ready to document his every word.

Dr. Gold reads directly from the Zoso’s diary.

November 18th, 1324.

Today is the day where the ships we sent 9 months ago to the eastern coasts return. Cora, my dear wife, is impatient to see the clothes and jewels they bring back, but I dare not say we will have to sell them. Our finances are in a dire state and we need the money. The people starves and they need food.

November 19th, 1324.

The boats did return yesterday. They carried many riches, enough to import food for everyone in our lands and content Cora with jewels. The feast was meager but the spirits were high.

November 20th, 1324.

Here’s a list of the items the ship brought :  
\- seeds of new plants for next planting seasons  
\- 50 rolls of silk  
\- 50 rolls of linen  
\- 279 skins of cow  
\- 150 salted hams.  
\- numerous spices  
\- 83 swords of the finest quality  
\- 82 daggers  
\- A kris dagger.  
\- healing dry plants.  
\- music instruments.  
\- 67 furs  
\- 40 barrels of wine.  
\- 23 diamonds  
\- 41 rubies  
\- 12 emeralds  
\- 7 rolls of velvet, 3 green, 4 red.  
\- 20 tapestries  
\- various beddings.  
\- various tools for the castle craftsmen  
\- helmets for the soldiers.

The sale of the jewels and the cloth will allow my people to live this year. I will allow my dear wife to keep some cloth and jewels for her use. She will therefore be allowed to have 2 dresses, one cloak and a set of jewels made. I will have a cloak for myself made and some clothes for our son, Filho.

Dr. Gold stops reading and glances up at Belle. “It appears everything I thought I knew about Zoso was wrong.”

“What was it that you thought you knew?”

"We always thought he wasn’t the type of man to have a wife and child. We’ve depicted him as a tyrant and an unruly leader." Considering their dire state at the moment, Dr. Gold is elated to learn something new. "Did you hear the list?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“The dagger was on the ship. That’s how it came into his possession.”

"Oh, that’s interning. Is that different from what you thought as well?"

"Yes, we thought it was in his possession at a younger age." The doctor continues to read from the book.

November 25th, 1324

My lovely wife is overjoyed to have been given jewels and cloth. Seeing her happy makes me happy, and the people are satisfied. We have started giving out food and seeds. Our lands don’t go far, but they’re full of good-hearted and loyal men. None of them would betray us to the enemy.

November 26th, 1324

A dead cow have been found in the village’s well.

November 30th, 1324

I have neglected the writing of this log for my guards and I have been investigating. Reports have been made of a purple smoke appearing randomly through the castle. Despite searches, nothing has been found and the soldiers are worried.

December 5th, 1324

Cora tells me she has seen the smokes too. I had started to doubt the sanity of my men. Villagers have seen the smokes too. I am worried, but this is not what worries me the most. My son and heir, Filho has fallen to a fever. We thought that he was teething but unfortunately, it isn’t so. We called the healer to come see him. A harsh winter has started, but Filho has always been a strong boy, used to our weather. Yet, he has been unable to get up from bed.

December 8th, 1324

The healer is finally here. He said Filho was not sick, but fighting an evil from inside. According to him, my son is possessed and evil has settled on our castle like a fog. Cora has sent him away, threatening to kill him, should he spew lies and slander.

December 13th, 1324

Filho seems better. He is not feverish anymore and has been able to sit up in bed. Cora fed him chicken soup. It is lovely to see them smiling. My family is back together.

December 15th, 1324

Filho is dead during the night. He was fine yesterday, but this morning, the servant found him, white as a sheet… I know I must tell what happened, but it’s my son. My poor little son… He was at the dawn of his life and now I have to bury him.

My lands have no heir now and Cora is a bit too old to carry another. She is devastated, but we’ll have to try for the sake of our people.

December 16th, 1324

Though my heart still cries, my duty of Lord dictates I have to lock the father in for a moment and recollect the finding of my Heir’s body.

A servant, named Lucia, 14 of age, entered the bedroom just before sunrise to rouse the fire and found my Heir’s body. Life had already left him for he was cold. Blood was everywhere. He bled out from his eyes, nose, ears, mouth and private parts.

“Oh, god !” Belle quivers, as the doctor reads.

The soldiers and villagers think it is bad omen. Reports of sighting the purple smoke pile on my worktable, but I can’t deal with this. I pray god that despite the unholy death of my Heir, God has found enough mercy to greet him paradise. My son was an innocent soul of 5 of age.

“That’s heart breaking.” Belle places her hand on the doctor’s shoulder.

“Yes, it is.” He rests his hand over hers. “Zoso spoke of purple smoke. I think that might be the beginning of the curse and what might have killed his son.” Dr. Gold reads more from the dairy.

December 17th, 1324

My son was buried today.

January 3rd, 1325

We still held on the feat given every year for the birth of our Lord Jesus, last week. It was gloom, our people not daring say anything to us in face of our mourning.

Cora is devastated. She cries a lot. She says it’s my fault, that I have not sent word for the Healer soon enough, that I wasn’t forceful enough in making him come… I know he hurried, the Healer was in my family for decades.

January 5th 1325

Cora has decided to exile herself in the north tower to pray all day and night. I feel alone. I need her but she copes as she’s always done, seeking loneliness and God’s advice.

January 15th, 1325

Cora killed herself. She threw herself from the tower at sundown. Her soul is damned. My son’s is somewhere unknown, my wife’s is in hell… Even if our marriage was arranged by our parents, I loved her dearly and she loved me. We were lucky. My son, my wife, this smoke more and more people report having seen…. I’m starting to think there is a curse upon my family.

January 20th, 1325

I woke up this morning, clutching a kris dagger I don’t remember having taken. After investigations, it is the kris dagger the ship brought back. Having it near me makes me feel easier, as if a layer of anguish had been removed from my shoulder. I think I should keep it with me all the time. But I don’t remember how it came into my bed. Actually… I don’t remember anything of yesterday.

January 31th, 1325

These absences of my mind… I don’t know what they came from. I sent word for the healer. He came and said my body was healthy but my mind was sick. He used the word “possessed” and recommended a letter to the Vatican for them to request a priest specialized in those matters.

Mid February, 1325

It’s been a while since I’ve written in here. These absences of mine have gotten longer and when I emerge, I’m too busy figuring out what has happened than writing what I’m doing. I think it’s the kris dagger. I’ve thought about it and our unfortune began when the ship came back. I can’t separate myself from the dagger. I feel the need to protect it. I killed a servant who tried to take it away from me to put it with my sword and shield. I’ve sent my most trusted messenger to seek information on it.

“Rumple.” Belle interrupts his reading. “It sounds like the dagger started controlling him. What going to happen when we have it?”

“I don’t know, dearie, but I promise I won’t hurt you,” he vows to her.

“I won’t hurt you either, Rumple.”

They smile, leaning into each other and Dr. Gold reads more passages.

May 1325

I… The place is cursed. My lands have gone bare. Spring has not come. It is sunny and shiny but the soil is as deserted as during the coldest of winter. The people already pleads but their complaints bore me. The Dagger is safe and will help me. Their whines won’t help them.  
*  
Someone has tried to take it away again. I need to put it safe, but how ? The smoke has appeared to me. Finally. The smoke is Cora’s spirit, reaching out to me. Finally… She told me that I need to protect the dagger. To keep it safe. Hide it. Because no one was worthy.  
*  
I chased everyone away from the castle, staying alone. My dagger, my Cora, they need protection. I shall provide it. I need to protect my love. I killed two cooks who didn’t want to leave. The tower where my wife took her life, will be the best place for the dagger. My dagger has helped me secure it’s safety, by building an entry to the tower. It’s now impossible to get in and out, unless one knows the way.

"It’s in a tower !" Belle is ecstatic and slaps the doctor on his shoulder.

"I know you’re excited, dearie, but didn’t you just promise not to hurt me?"

"Oh, you know what I meant by that."

"Yes, I do." He snickers. "This is a fantastic lead. Now, we know exactly where the dagger is."

"I’m so happy we’re getting out of here. Keep reading, Rumple."

End of June 1326

The Messenger I sent 13 months ago has finally returned. He has news. Death has followed the Dagger through history. It makes men mad, alone, violent. Now that it is safe, its hold on me is weaker. I can’t… think most of the time. I need to guard it. I need to do things. From what the messenger tells me, a demon of hatred lives inside the dagger. According to this knowledge, as Angels and God defeat Demons and Satan, love will defeat the hatred in the Dagger. Without anyone to love and no one to love me, I can’t break the curse but maybe someone can. The dagger needs two people willing to sacrifice their life essence on it’s blade, and I’m alone. It made sure of it. Everyone is scared of me.

"Wait a second, love breaks the curse? How are we going to break it, Rumple. We don’t love each other."

Dr. Gold takes a moment to think. He doesn’t love Belle, at least he think he doesn’t. He does deeply care about what happens to her, and to him that’s a form of love. “I would care if anything happened to you and you’d care about me, right?”

"Yes, Rumple, of course I would."

"I think that’s love. We care for each other and that should be enough to break it."

"Oh, okay, well I guess that makes sense. But what the hell does he mean by sacrificing life’s essence?"

"That’s a more easier question. You know how there are many cultures in the past and still around today, that sacrifice animals?"

Belle’s eyes broaden with fear. “Don’t tell me we have to kill something.”

"No, no, dearie." He stops her from panicking. "We don’t have to do that. I was just getting at, that they sacrifice the animal for their life’s essence, blood. I think Zoso is saying we have to bleed on the dagger."

"Bleed on it?" Belle is uneasy about the situation. "How much blood?"

"Not much. I think a drop is more than enough."

"Alright. I hope you’re right about this."

"I’m sure that I am." He tries not to show her any doubts. "There isn’t much left in this part of the book. I’ll read the rest to you."

The demon inside can possess humans, the more chaos around, the longer it gets. However, it wants a host, in which he can live forever. Children are more suitable for this purpose, but my little Filho was too old.  
*  
I can feel the Dagger wanting more protection. I am lost, my castle is lost, my land is lost. All is lost to the curse. My people either have deserted my territory or talk of rebellion. They talk of witchcraft too. The curse uses the smokes to terrorize them and they lay blame of it on me.

January 1327

I lay traps on the way to its shelter. However, I planted clues for seekers of breaking the curse to decode. Hints the Dagger cannot understand, it’s all about love, everything that it is not. I killed the workers that helped me, so that they don’t talk, as per the curse’s wish.

August 1340

I’m still alive. Not for long. The pope has sent the inquisition and the curse killed them all with my hand. This blasphemy to God has convinced the peasants to rebel. They’re coming for me.

Whoever finds this journal, please, break the curse, set my immortal soul free from damnation, my Cora’s, my Filho’s. Let us access Heaven, we’ve suffered enough. Love is the key.

-Graf Zoso.

"Breaking the curse isn’t just about us getting out, is it?"

"I don’t know, Belle, but it appears it not."

"Do you believe everything that’s written? I finding it a bit hard to believe everything."

"Why would he lie, dearie? What would be the purpose?"

"I don’t know, but a lot of it isn’t sitting well with me."

"I understand what you mean, Belle. This book is all we have to go on and we must trust it." Dr. Gold looks over the pages in the book. "We know exactly where to go and find the dagger. Zoso wouldn’t write that if he didn’t want the curse broken."

"Yea, I guess so." She can’t help but feel apprehensive. "We’re really going to do it, bleed on that dagger?"

"Yes, Belle, we have too. It’s our only way of getting out of here."

Belle looks into Dr. Gold’s eyes. She trusts him and knows that this is the right thing to do, but she just can’t shake the feeling of uncertainty. If they’re going to get out of the castle, they must have faith with what’s in the book. There’s really no other choice.

As Dr. Gold is turning through the pages, a passage catches his eye. “Oh ! You see that, dearie?”

"See what? You know I can’t read it."

"This !" He points to the passage. "It’s our way out of this room. The castle has hidden doors and there has to be one here." Dr. Gold shuffles to the wall and sense for any sign of a secret door. He knocks on the surface, trying to hear for a hollow sound.

Belle picks up Zoso’s book and places it in her bag. She grabs Dr. Gold backpack and meets him by the wall. She hands the doctor his bag and helps him find the door. When they knock on the wall together, suddenly a small door, almost three feet tall, magically opens.

"Oh !" Belle jumps back. "That scared the hell out of me."

They look over the tiny door with confusion.

Dr. Gold scratches his head, still baffled by the height of the door. “Mmm, I thought it would be much larger than this.” He takes a deep breath. “Well, I guess we’re crawling in.” He takes off his bag and gets down on his hands and knees, then looks through the door. On the other side is a staircase leading upwards, with lanterns lighting the entire way. “Hand me your bag, dearie. I’ll send our stuff in first.”

Belle gives the doctor her bag and bends down on her knees, as he pushes both of their bags through the door.

"You go first, Belle. I’ll be right behind you."

She crawls in and quickly puts her bag on, then helps the doctor through the door. After they both get through, the door disappears behind them. Dr. Gold sways his bag over his shoulders and Belle tries to assists him up the stairs.

"Thank you, Belle, but I think I can handle the stairs on my own."

"Just let me help you, Rumple." She insists.

He doesn’t want her to worry about him, just living through this shit in the castle is frightening enough. Belle is compassionate in her offer to help him and he can see that she isn’t going to take no for an answer, so he gives into her. “Alright, then.”

Belle wraps his arm around her shoulder and they climb the stairs together.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Fourteen ~*~*~*~

They travel to the top of the stairs and are met with a door, that slides open. Dr. Gold and Belle place their hands on the handle, sliding the door together and finding heavy draping behind it. They push them to the side, stepping into the room, from another hidden door, and enter the chamber of Zoso’s love, Cora.

Cora’s bedchamber is exquisite. With a large bed in the center of the room, two luxurious dresses hanging on mannequins next to a vanity mirror with dozens of perfumes bottle, and on the left side is another mammoth balcony. The entire setting is befitting for a queen.

Belle slowly circles around the room and films a full view of it’s elegance with her glasses. “This has to be Cora’s room.”

Dr. Gold limps out to the balcony and admires the heart-stopping landscape of the forest below and the mountains in the horizon. He’s captivated by the scene and how the radiant light of the moon, brightens the woodlands, it’s truly miraculous. “Belle,” he calls. “You should come see this.”

Belle steps onto the balcony and views the spectacular scenery. “This is gorgeous.” She snaps a few still for her own personal collection.

"Look, I think that’s where we have to go." He points out to a single tower, nearly twenty-five feet away. "That maybe the tower where Cora jumped."

"How the hell are we supposed to get over there? The book said something about an entry to the tower, but the only entry is its balcony."

"I have no idea, Belle, but I’m sure there’s a way across. If Zoso left a clue, we’ll find it."

They search the balcony of Cora’s room and find nothing, so Belle moves on to more extreme measures. She holds her glasses onto her face, as she leans over the balconies handrail, making sure they’re not missing anything.

A stroke of fear sinks to the bottom of Dr. Gold’s stomach, as he watches Belle lean further. “Be careful, dearie.” He hobbles toward her, placing his hands on her hips, helping to keep her balance.

"I see something, Rumple." She leans back into the safety of the balcony and turns to him, with his hands still firmly on her hips. "Thank you for that."

His gives her a shy smile and she lightly caresses her hand across his cheek. He tilts his face into to her gentle touch, relishing the moment.

"I should show you what I found." She removes her hand.

"Oh, yes… Yes, you should."

She turns to the handrail. “There’s a latch on the other side.” She reach over and unlocks a door in the rail.

"Why have this here, when there’s no way to get across?" Dr. Gold is puzzled.

"Maybe this is the way across.” Belle is beginning to figure out the methods of the castle. “With horrifying spiky ceilings and magic tiny doors appearing from nowhere. Maybe there’s a magic way to get across.”

“Okay?” Dr. Gold is bewildered as to what she’s thinking.

“I’m thinking there might be an invisible bridge.”

"What? Invisible bridge?” He is floored. “I don’t know about that, Belle. The book mentions a way to enter, but I don’t think it meant that."

"Just look at where the door is. It’s directly across from the balcony on the other side.”

Dr. Gold thinks this castle is getting to her head. There’s no way there an invisible bridge to cross. Then again, she was right about the lower levels of the castle, but the doctor isn’t ready to completely commit to this idea. “Come on, we’ll look for another way.” He starts to retreat to the room.

“Wait, we have to see if this is the way.”

“Its not the way, Belle. I’m positive of that.”

“Well, I’m not.” She stretches her leg out and the doctor quickly shuffles back to her, grabbing her hand.

“No, Belle !”

She cautiously steps out and gasps in relief that something is under her foot.

Dr. Gold is dumbfound that she is right. “What the hell?”

“I told you ! If you’d just listen to me, we’d be out of here quicker.” She giggles and gleefully hugs him.

Dr. Gold tenderly pulls away from her. “I just… I just can’t believe it. You’re incredible, Belle.” He takes a few steps onto the invisible bridge. “This is inconceivable.”

"Wait, Rumple." She stops him, before he takes another step. "I don’t think you should try to go across with your twisted ankle.”

"I’m not letting you go alone."

"You have too." She backs him up to the balcony. "The wind could pick up and you’re not very balanced right now. I don’t want you to fall."

He can see the worry in her eyes and his stomach fills with butterflies at the thought of her crossing the bridge alone. But, what she’s saying is absolutely right. “Please, be careful, Belle.”

She takes his hand and lightly squeezes it. “I will, Rumple. I’m coming back and I’ll have that dagger.” She takes off her backpack and lays it on the floor.

"Hold on, I need to show you something else I saw." He removes his bag, searches through it and realizes that what he’s looking for isn’t inside. "Dammit ! I forgot to pick up the book. We have to go back."

"No, we don’t." Belle digs in her bag and surprises him with the book.

"You truly are amazing, Belle."

A small grin lights on her face.

Dr. Gold opens the book and shows her, Zoso’s drawn depiction of the box that contains the dagger. The drawing isn’t greatly detailed, just a wooden rectangular box with a hinged top. But, the sketch of the dagger is considerably more detailed. A silver curved blade, with the dark one’s name, Zoso, etched in the metal and a black leather bound shaft.

"Do you think you need to take the book with you?"

"No, Rumple, I know what I’m looking for and I don’t want to carry anything but the box when I come back."

"Alright, dearie." Dr. Gold holds her hand, as he walks with her back to the bridge.

She gazes in his eyes one last time and begins her frightening journey across the unseen walkway. She takes a deep breath and a meager step out onto the transparent bridge. Belle’s heart beats out of her chest, with each step she takes away from the balcony.

Dr. Gold watches her, breathless. He can’t believe how brave she is, but the further and further she goes, the feeling to rush out and bring her back with him grows greater. But, he knows that he can’t, and all he can do is helplessly watch.

Belle carefully takes each step, desperately trying not the look down at the forest below her. Cautiously placing her foot directly in front of the other, keeping her balance and walking in a straight line. The cold wind blows and she feels that she may topple over, but she stays balanced with a steady pace. She inches closer to the balcony of the tower and picks up speed. She reaches out, quickly taking hold of the handrail, unhooks the latch and scurries to the safety of a visible surface. Belle slams the door behind her and catches her breath, she was holding it in the entire time. She turns around and peers back at the doctor, raising her hand, letting him know that she’s alright.

Dr. Gold raise his hand in return and is thankful that she made it across, unharmed.

Belle walks into the room of the tower and the candles light upon entering. She straightens her glassed, masking sure she records everything she sees for the doctor. The room is empty, only a spiral staircase leading down. She prepares herself for what may be ahead, calming her nerves from her long stroll, walking on air. When she’s finally ready to move ahead, she retreats down the countless steps of the tower.

Meanwhile back in Cora’s bedchamber, Dr. Gold rummages the room for anything that may help. He finds clothing and jewelry, all suitable for a powerful woman of her time, but nothing throughout the room seems useful. He waits out on the balcony for Belle’s return and studies the book, hoping to learn more about the curse.

Belle forges down the staircase, taking her last turn around the spiral and setting eyes on what they’ve been wretchedly seeking. The wooden box and the counter, it sits on, are the only things in the tower. She’s thunderstruck at the fact that the box containing the dagger is finally in front of her and oddly concerned that it is just setting out alone. After almost being smashed by a prickly ceiling from hell and having to rip up a floor to uncover a book, just having the box laying out for all to see, does not sit right with her. Belle takes her time to investigate the lowest level of the tower and soon discovers, she’s just surrounded by stone walls. With nothing seemingly deadly awaiting for her, she places her hands on the box and removes it from it’s place.

She raises the box to her ear, rattles it and she hears something inside. Belle notices an indentation on the front of the box, shaped like a pointed oval. She thinks it maybe a place for a key. A detail not drawn in Zoso’s book. She tries to open it, but it’s locked. She holds the box under her arm to begin her ascent up the stairs and suddenly, she feels the trickle of water under her feet, quickly raising. “I should have fucking known.” She bolts up the stairs as fast as she can, while the deadly water raises rapidly behind her. Belle skips steps, holding the box tightly, urgently trying to reach the top of the tower. The water level is just below her feet and she feels that she might not make it. She pushes forward, as her fight to live increases and her adrenalin rises. She feels as if she climbing the stairs faster. Belle arrives at the summit and dashes to the balcony, unhooking the latch and carefully take a step onto the bridge. She hears the water rushing behind her and darts across the invisible bridge, without looking back.

Dr. Gold watches, wide eyed with bated breath, as she crosses the bridge at an arming rate. He can see the water from the tower spilling out. Now, he knows that she’s running for her life. “Hurry, Belle !” he belted and hastily opens the latch and door for her.

She reaches the safety of Cora’s balcony, finally away from the fatal waters and bridge. She stops in front of the doctor, drops the box and nearly collapses.

Dr. Gold catches her exhausted body and gently sits her down on the floor. He pulls his bag closer to them and takes out what’s left of his water.

Belle breathes heavily and her heart beats out of her chest. She’s never ran so fast in her life.

"Here, dearie." He places his water bottle to her lips.

She gulps the water down and drapes her arms around the doctor, resting her head in the crook of his neck. “That was insane,” she pants.

"You’re alright now, sweetheart. You made it back."

"I didn’t even run that fast when I was chasing that bus."

"Don’t try to speak, Belle, catch you breath and calm yourself." He holds her tight.

Belle drinks most of his water, cradled in his arms and slowly regaining her strength. Moments passes, then she moves from his arms and sluggishly picks herself up from the floor.

He stands up after her, carefully trying not to put too much weight on his twisted ankle. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.” She picks up the box. “Thank you for the water and making sure I was okay.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that. I should thank you, for going across and risking your life for that box.”

She looks down at the box and grins. “Here, Rumple.” She sits the box in his hands.

"Thanks." He takes her hand and walks with her back to the bedroom.

Belle sits on the bed, as Dr. Gold examines the box and tries to open it. “I already tried that.” She laughs quietly.

A nervous giggle escapes with his voice. “Oh, well… Well, I knew that.” He tinkers with the box. The indentation on the front catches his eye. “We need a key and I think I know where it is.” He turns to the vanity and hunts through it again.

"What are you looking for?" Belle hops down from the bed and helps the doctor search.

"A marquise cut ruby. I saw it while you were in the tower."

"Is this it?" She holds the pointed oval shaped ruby.

"Yes !" He’s so thrilled that she found it. Dr. Gold would leap for joy, if he could. Belle drops the ruby in his hand and he places it in the notch, but it doesn’t unlock the box.

"Oh, no." Belle gripes. "I thought we were on our way out of here. I’m starting to think we should have listened to Regina and not come here at all."

"If you knew Regina the way I do, you probably wouldn’t listen to her all the time." He smirks, but Belle doesn’t find his little remark amusing. "Belle, don’t be down just yet." He puts the box on the vanity and rests his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "We’re going to find the key and get the hell out of here," he assures her.

"I’m so tired, Rumple. I don’t know if I have the energy to try to find the key."

"I know you’re tired, sweetheart, but do you really feel safe sleeping here?"

"We fell asleep here before."

"I know." He clears his throat. "But, that was when the curse wanted us… Trying to make us… "

"Fuck?" She says what he was avoiding to say.

He sighs. “Yes.”

"It’s not pushing us together anymore."

"That’s exactly my point, dearie. Because it’s not pushing together, it might have other plans. I don’t trust it."

"You’re right, Rumple. I don’t trust it either and I don’t feel safe, but I feel safe with you." She wraps her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder.

He embraces her and is astounded to find out that she feels safe with him. “Is that true?”

She nods.

Dr. Gold looks down at her and her eyes are low and heavy. He can’t tolerate seeing her like this. “Alright, Belle. We still have some water and I have a bunch of those strange little protein bars Regina loves, in case you’re hungry.”

"I’m just tried."

"Alright, alright." He staggers with her to the bed, tosses most of the pillows on the floor and makes sure she’s comfortable, then head to the balcony.

"What are you doing, Rumple?"

"I’m just getting our bags." He picks them up and takes them to the bed.

"Can I see my bag?"

"Of course you can." He sits the bag next to Belle, then hobbles to the other side of the bed and sit across from her.

Belle takes off her camera glasses and plugs them into the computer in her bag. “I think these things ran out of power when I returned from the tower.” She places the glasses and computer back into the bag, then sits it on the floor. “It’s a good thing I got the battery replaced on this computer, before taking this trip,” she comments, as she lays down.

Dr. Gold does the same and they lay in the bed face to face.

"Will you hold my hand?" she asks and he quickly complies, lacing his fingers with hers. "You know, you’ve done something twice, since I came back from the tower."

He takes a moment to think about something he’s done twice that she would notice, but nothing comes to him. “What’s that?”

"Ever since we’ve met, you’ve been calling me Belle or dearie, but when I came back, you’ve called me sweetheart, twice."

"Oh, I didn’t notices that. I’m sorry, if you don’t like it."

"I never said I didn’t."

The doctor gazes at her and she looks back at him

Belle slowly blinks her eyes and they grow heavier and heavier, until she can no longer keep them open.

Dr. Gold watches her sleep, afraid to close his eyes. He doesn’t want anything to happen to Belle. He scoots closer to her, removing the hair from her face and he can’t help to think how beautiful she is. He listens to the calming sound of her breathing, staying up as long as he can, fighting off the sleep. The doctor looks over her for nearly an hour, before drifting off as well.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Fifteen ~*~*~*~

Night passes over them without any conflicts and the morning sunlight fills the bedroom. Belle opens her eyes and finds the doctor wrapped around her, with his head over her heart. She watches his chest move up and down, sensing his warm breath seeping through her shirt. She revels in this instant, feeling the coarse stubble on his cheek and taking in his scent. His hair tickles her nose and she sneezes.

Dr. Gold jerk out of his sleep, realizing his position on top of her, just as she did to him days ago, and instantly springs off of her. “My apologies, Belle.”

"It’s alright, Rumple, actually, I didn’t mind." She grazes her finger across his brow, removing the hair from his eyes. "How’s your ankle feeling?"

"It’s fine, dearie. Nothing to worry about."

"I can try to wrap it, if you want."

"You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine without one. Hopefully we won’t have to run… or anything." He stands from the bed and limps to the vanity, where he left the box. "We’re getting out of here today, I promise."

"I know." She lifts up her bag from the floor and takes out her camera glasses, placing them onto her face. "Did the book say anything about the key? Where we can find it?"

"No, unfortunately it didn’t. Zoso didn’t even draw the key on his depiction of the box."

Belle looks down and sighs, curling the straps of her backpack in her fingers. “Okay.”

The doctor can see that she’s a little upset. He wishes that there was more he can do, to assure her that they’ll find the key. “I’m sorry, Belle.”

"It’s not your fault, Rumple."

“It sort of is. It was my idea to come inside the fucking castle and I dragged you with me.” Dr. Gold looks down at the box, then back at Belle.

“It’s not your fault.” She tries harder to relieve his doubts. “I don’t blame you for anything.”

“I can’t help but feel a bit guilty.”

Belle goes to him and takes his hand. “You have nothing to feel guilty about either. I trust you, Rumple, and I know that we’re going to get out of here.” She kisses his hand.

In that kiss, all of the doctors doubts melts away. Belle seems to have a way of making him feel better. “Well, we should probably start heading out.” He wants to kiss her lips, but he holds back the aspiration.

She nods. “Okay.” And returns to the bedside.

“Do you have to do anything, before we look for the key?” Dr Gold isn’t quite effortless when asking.

"Do anything?" She’s a bit muddled.

"Umm, toilet?"

"Oh, yes, actually I do."

"There’s a chamber pot, just over there." He points to the door next to the draping, shielding the secret door they entered. "I think it’s clean and you can use my notebook for… Paper." Dr. Gold feels sheepish offering her to use notebook paper.

"Oh, umm, you know. I think I’ll pass on the notebook and just use some of the cloth from one of the pillows?" She takes off her glasses.

"Yes, of course you can." The doctor laughs timidly. "Take your time. I’ll be waiting out here for you." He turns away, freeing her from the embarrassment of him watching her walk in.

Belle picks up one of the pillows and hurries to the chamber pot.

Dr. Gold hears the door shut and waits a moment, then hobbles to the balcony to relieve himself, before she returns. He’s been holding himself all night and it’s taking him a lot longer than expected to finish.

Belle steps out and looks for the doctor. She thought he was waiting for her to finish, so he can go after her. She searches for him, going out onto the balcony and spots Dr. Gold pissing through the handrails. An unexpected snort escapes from her and she quickly hides, scurrying back to the bed.

He hears her tiny chuckle and finishes quickly, wiping his hands on his pants, before re-entering the room. “Ready to go?” He pushes their small convergence to the side.

"Yes." Belle swings her bag over her shoulders. "More than anything." She places her glasses back on her face, then hands Dr. Gold his bag, holding in her smile from the image of I’m peeing over the balcony.

He opens his bag. “I have something for you.” Takes out one of Regina’s beloved protein bars and gives it to Belle, then gets the wood box from the vanity.

She stand next to him and lays her hand on the doorknob of the rooms main entrance.

He rests his hand over hers and together, slowly crack open the door. Dr. Gold peeps through, making sure nothing sinister is waiting for them. It seem safe and he opens it completely. “After you, Belle.”

She steps closer to him and takes his hand, she’s not afraid of a little pee, then they walk out of the room together.

Cora’s chamber is the only room at the end of a hallway. They march to the opposite side to try and detect what part of the castle their in. As they walk to the end of the hall, Belle opens her protein bar and takes a bite. “These aren’t very good.” The bar is hard and dry.

"Yea, I know. I try not to eat those things." Dr. Gold gives Belle his water. "Regina and I were in Central America, studying the Mayan pyramids. It was her first year as my assistant. We got lost for two days and all we had were those to eat. I can’t stand to even look at those things, but you should eat it. It’ll help keep your strength up."

"Alright." She takes another bite of the tooth shattering bar. "How did you get lost anyways?"

"It was an accident really. She miscalculated our navigation, but we eventually found our way back on track. She actually thought I was going to fire her."

"That’s funny." Belle giggles, forcing down another bite of the horrific bar.

Dr. Gold takes pleasure in seeing her smile. He adores the way it brightens her face. “It’s good to hear you laugh.”

"I like that you make me laugh." She folds the remainder of the protein bar and stores it in her pocket. There’s not way she can finish it.

They make it to the end of the hall and Belle helps the doctor down another flight of stairs. At the bottom of the staircase, is the grand room they entered on their arrival to the castle. They scope out the room with disbelief.

"This isn’t right." Dr. Gold staggers to the long table. "There was only one staircase in this room and we went up it when we first got here."

Belle is speechless.

"The bedroom we just left wasn’t in this part of the castle. We should be in a different section, not back here again." The doctor is trying to make sense of the situation.

"You know what? I’m going to go back up and look at where we came from."

"Wait, you’re not going back up there alone."

"There’s no need for you to climb back up. I’m just going to look and come right back."

"We shouldn’t split up, Belle, especially, if this place is shifting." Dr. Gold limps to her.

"If you stay at the foot of the staircase, you’ll see me the entire time. I’m just going to peek and come back."

It’s a brilliant idea, but he’s not okay with her going alone. “Belle, we should go together.”

Belle doesn’t heed his word and sprints up the stair. She sees no reason for him to struggle up.

“Belle !” He lurches up a couple of stairs, as Belle takes a glimpses down the hall and descends back down. “Belle, what were you thinking? Anything could have happened to you.” He reaches for her and she firmly grasp his hand, helping back down.

"Nothing happened and I’m back, Rumple.”

“Please don’t do anything like that again.” He leans into her, wanting to keep her close.

“I’m sorry, I scared you.”

“It’s alight, dearie. What did you see?”

“It’s completely changed, the hall we just left didn’t have any doors, now there’s rows of doors and I think it changed back to what it originally was.”

“How can you tell?”

"The doors are all open from when we searched the rooms yesterday.”

"What the hell? I’m not going to let this curse keep fucking stop us." Dr. Gold has had enough. He’s fed up with this curse, jerking them around, fucking with their emotions and trying to kill them. He marches up the stairs, avoiding the shooting pain in his ankle.

“Rumple ! Wait !” She tries to stop him from inflicting self harm. Turns out trying to keep him from going up, was all for not.

"Let’s go, Belle," he says assertive and straightforward.

She halts from trying to keep him back and falls into action, following him up the stairs. “What’s your plain, Rumple?”

"I don’t know." He stops at the top of the staircase, and just as Belle said, it looks to be the original hallway from when they entered the castle. "This is unbelievable."

"We can search every room again."

"I don’t think we’ll have to look through every room. Maybe just the ones we found jewels in? Hopefully one of them will be the key."

"Alright, we can go with that. At least It’s a hell of a lot better plan than ‘I don’t know’."

Dr. Gold eyes her, lowering his bow, then he smiles. He sensed that false Scottish accent in her voice. Even though their in a dire situation, he can see things can’t completely bring her personality down. He’s beginning to admire that about her.

Belle and Dr. Gold enter the first room, where they remember finding jewelry, and ransack through every precious stone. They find nothing that fits the box and progress to the next room. When they exit the room, all of the door that were open in the hall are now shut.

"Rumple?"

"I know, dearie."

Slowly they move down the corridor, highly alert of what may happen next.

Belle quickly clutches the doctor’s hand. “Are we still checking the rooms that had jewels?”

"Yes, we should stick with that plan."

"Okay, well, I think this room was one of them." She let’s go of his hand and steps to the door next to her.

Dr. Gold hobbles towards her to help open the door, just as they’ve done every other door in the castle, but this time is different.

Belle is able to open the door on her own and is suddenly pulled into the room, belting out a terrifying howl.

The doctor is blinded by the bright light coming from the open door. He can’t get to her as fast as he needs to.

"Help me, Rumple !"

Dr. Gold can faintly see the doorway, but not into the room. He drops the box and hurls himself to the threshold, not giving a shit about his twisted ankle. As his vision clears, he feels the fresh Romanian air against his skin and his hair flows majestically the wind.

"What the fuck are you doing, Rumple ! This isn’t a photo shoot !" Belle roars.

His sight fully adjusts to the vivid light and finds that there’s no room behind the door. It looks as though this section of the castle has been cut off and set on top a mountain. “Holy, shit !” He looks to his left to find Belle hanging for her life by the doorknob. “Hang on, dearie,” he hollers.

"That’s what I’ve been doing !"

He swings himself to left side of the threshold and reaches for his dear camera woman. “Give me one hand, but leave the other on the door, I’ll pull you in with it.”

She grips his hand straightaway and he uses all of his strength to pull her to safety. Belle kicks her leg up to the edge of the floor for better leverage and they’re able to easily pull her in, closing the door behind her. Belle is shaken up, as she dusts herself off and straightens the bulky black glasses on her face. She’s shocked they didn’t fall off and grateful to have her feet back on solid ground. “Have I told you how much I hate this fucking place?” She falls into his arms and hugs him dearly.

"Yes, Belle, you have."

They can feel each others hearts racing.

"Are you alright?" Dr. Gold adds.

She nods and pulls out of his arms. “Now, we don’t know what’s behind these doors.”

"We’ll still have to check them." He picks up the wood box and stores it in his backpack. "We just have to be more cautious, now that we know they’re not just rooms behind them."

They try to search each door in this wing, but every one they go to is locked. The last door to check is the small library. The doctor holds his breath, as he cautiously turns the doorknob and to his amazement, the door is unlocked. He vigorously pushes the door to swing open on it’s own, while he quickly steps back, holding Belle back with him and they stare into the darkness of the space behind the door. Belle digs into the doctors backpack and takes out the flashlight. She shines it through the door, discovering a dank cave. “Rumple, are we going in there?”

Dr. Gold is dumbfounded, gaping into the underground enclosure.

"Rumple? … Rumple !" She punches his shoulder.

He flinches, as if awoken from a trance. “Ouch ! What was that for?” He eyeballs her, rubbing his shoulder.

"You. Zoned. Out." She emphasizes every word.

"I did? … Oh, I’m sorry … What, what did you say?"

"I asked you if we were going in?"

He looks into the cave, then back at Belle. “I really don’t want to, I don’t fucking trust this place, but I think we should.”

"I knew you were going to say that."

"Well, dearie, we have to see where this leads."

She takes a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go.” She gently pushes him forward.

"Hey !"

"Remember when we were looking for the stairs to the lower level of the castle?”

“Yes, dearie, I do”

“And remember telling me, ‘you wanted to come down here’?” She mocks his accent once again.

“Yes, I think I said something like that. Where are you going with this, Belle?”

“Well, you want to go in there, so you should go first.” She lightly shoves him again.

"Quit being childish, Belle."

"I’m not being childish," she instantly replies. "I’m just scared." Her voice is light and brittle.

Dr. Gold faces her, gazing upon her eyes, as she holds back a fearful tear. “I’m afraid too, sweetheart, but we’ve fought through everything thrown at us so far. I’m sure, that whatever’s in there, we can fight through that as well.”

A small smile illuminates her face and she embraces him into her arms. “Alright, Rumple. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

He kisses her cheek, brushing his lips across the corner of hers. “That’s the girl that’s been growing on me.”

Belle clasps onto his hand and lets go of fears. She’s amazed by how quickly he’s able to calm her fearfulness. They venture into the mysterious cave, with hope that they’ll find the key, be rid of the curse and finally escape The Dark Castle.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Sixteen ~*~*~*~

Moving forward into the cave, Belle and the doctor stay close to the other. Dr. Gold walks carefully trying not to put more weight on his ankle, afraid he might have made it worse while saving Belle, though it’s nothing he regrets. The cave is humid and moist with stalactites and stalagmites erecting from the floors and ceiling. The air is fresh with a breeze flowing through. Dr. Gold knows, this is the sign of an exit. The cabin narrows as they ascend deeper into the cave, slowly inching closer to the unknown at the end of their path.

Belle’s camera glasses fog up in the moist air. She takes them off, wipes them and out of the corner of her eye, spots the flicker of fire. “Rumple, there’s something this way.” She shows him the direction of the flame. They head towards the light, entering another cabin of the cave and just before them, is what they’ve been seeking all day. At long last, wedged in the wall of the rocky cave, is the ruby that unlocks the box to The Dark One’s dagger. Well, that’s what they’re hoping.

"There it is, Belle.” Dr. Gold is overjoyed and struts up to the wall.

"Rumple, wait." She scrambles to stop him.

"What? Why?" He glimpse at her perplexed. "It’s right here, dearie. We’re getting out."

"You’ve haven’t had the misfortune of something like this."

"Okay?" He shakes his head in confusion.

"I didn’t tell you this, but." She puts her glasses back on. "Well, back at the tower, the box was the only thing there. Once I picked it up, the water rushed from nowhere. We can’t trust this ruby just sitting out here alone."

"Oh, okay." He looks around the cabin. "Is doesn’t seem like anything is here."

"There was nothing at the tower either. We just have to be ready for anything, just in case."

"I understand." He readies himself, taking a deep breath, slowly moving his hand closer to the ruby. "Are you ready?"

"Not really, but do it."

Dr. Gold swiftly yanks the jewel out of its rocky base, as they both hold their breath waiting for something dreadful to happen. They wait and wait, like deer caught in headlights, but nothing horrendous tries to kill them. Together they take a sigh in relief.

"Nothing happened !" Belle is ecstatic and jumps in the doctor’s arms.

"Oh.. Ow.. My ankle."

"I’m so sorry." She backs away.

"It’s alright, dearie." He smirks and turns around. "Here, grab the box out of my bag." He studies the gem, as she removes the box. "This is beautiful."

"I have the box."

He turns back and faces her. “Thank you, dearie.”

She hands him the box. “Don’t waste any time, just unlock the damn thing.”

"As you wish." He immediately places the marquise cut ruby into the indentation on the front of the box and the hinged top pops open.

They lay eyes on The Dark One’s dagger for the first time and Dr. Gold stares at it. Belle notices the dead look in his eyes and she thinks the hold the dagger takes onto people has its grip on him.

“Rumple?” She has become profoundly concerned.

"Oh god ! … It’s gorgeous !" Dr. Gold’s eyes sparkle and widen, as he licks the saliva from his lips and drops the box.

This is not the reaction she was prepared for.

"Do you see it, Belle? Make sure you get a clear shot of it. Oh, god, it’s absolutely beautiful."

Belle’s jaw drops to the floor and she stares at him, as he marvels like a fangirl at the kris dagger.

"Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment? The details are impeccable…"

She has had enough. “Rumple, would you please stop !” Her voice echoes through the cave, as she silences his rambling.

Dr. Gold is stunned.

"The archaeology geek side of you just freaked out for instant and it was a little overwhelming. Especially, at a moment like this."

"I’m sorry, Belle, but just look at it." He holds the dagger up to her face.

"I am looking at it."

"Take a picture of it." He pesters her.

"I’m filming it right now with my glasses, while you’re shoving it in my face.” She backs away from him.

"I mean a still. Take a still of it."

"Ugh, alright !" She snaps a picture.

"Oh… Thank you, dearie." He wipes his fingerprints from the dagger.

"Can we please break this curse now?"

"Yes, we can." He smiles brightly.

She picks up the wood box. “I’m still uneasy about the whole bleeding thing, but if it’s what we have to do, I’ll do it.” She puts the box in the doctor’s bag.

"Only love can break this curse, that’s what Zoso’s book said. I think we care about each other enough to break it. "

I hope your right.”

“I think I am. If saving someone’s life isn’t a form of love, then I don’t know what is, dearie.” Dr. Gold pricks his finger with the daggers tip. “Do you want to do it yourself or would you like me?”

"Could you do for me?"

"I was hoping you wouldn’t want me to. I didn’t want to hurt you, Belle."

"It’s just a little poke. I trust you." She closes her eyes tightly.

"Okay." He takes her hand and quickly pierces her finger.

"Ow !"

"Oh, it wasn’t that bad, dearie." He snickers. "Alright, here we go."

Each of them bleed one drop at the same time. The hue of the dagger turns purple and the breeze in the cave instantly stops blowing. Dr. Gold and Belle freeze and can feel time standing still. Magic flows from the dagger, through Belle and the doctor, then return back to the dagger, as they sense time start again. The hue of the dagger dies and Zoso’s name erases from its blade. They regain their movement and shiver from the rush of magic that flew through them.

"Are you alright, Belle?"

"Fuck, what was that?"

"I think we broke the curse, dearie."

Belle studies their surroundings. “Then why the hell are we still in this cave?”

Dr. Gold stands puzzled for a moment. “Mmm, I don’t know.”

All of a sudden, the ground beneath their feet starts to rattle and a loud crash echos through the cave.

"Okay, now what the fuck was that?" Belle freak.

"I don’t know, Belle !" He hollers.

Belle’s skin turns pale with fright. “You hear that? I don’t like that sound… That, that rolling sound. Rumple, we need to go now.”

"Wait !"

"We need to go." She clutches onto his arm and tugs him.

The sound creeps closer and the turbulence under them intensifies.

"Wait, Belle." Dr. Gold’s curiosity won’t let him move.

"We need to go now, Rumple !” Belle pulls him harder.

"Wait, listen."

The sound of rolling increase, then suddenly a booming crash, as a giant boulder explodes through the cave wall.

"Oh, shit !" The doctor shrieks. "We need to go now, Belle."

"That’s what I’ve been telling you !"

Dr. Gold swiftly stuffs the dagger into her backpack and wrap his arm around her shoulder. With his twisted ankle, there’s no way he can run on his own. They have a nice distance between them and the huge rolling rock, hobbling as quickly as they can, back to the door where they entered the cave. The howling sound edging closer from behind, pushes them to move faster. Rushing down the widening cave they approach to where they entered, but to their horrifying shock, the door has vanished. The only thing that lies ahead of them is a cliff. They stop at the ledge of the cliff and look down, finding a roaring river at the bottom.

"We have to jump, Belle."

"Do you think it’s deep enough?"

He peeks back and the bolder is approaching like a bullet. “Yes, yes I think it’s deep enough,” he hastily answers, not so sure of himself. At this point it’s their only option.

"I trust you, Rumple."

"You’ve told me that," he skittishly replies. "We’ll jump on three. One, two…"

"Wait !" she yells.

Dr. Gold flinches holding his hand over his rapidly beating heart. “Fuck, Belle! You said you’d never do that again.” As if he wasn’t freaked out enough.

"My glasses." She stuffs them in his bag. "These bags are waterproof, right?"

"Now, who’s being a geek?" He sneers. "I guess we’re going to find out." He glances back and the bolder is right on their asses. "Fuck… Three !"

They leap off the edge of the cliff, descending down to the waters below. The bolder follows them off the cliff and lodges itself in the narrow part of the walls. Dr. Gold and Belle grab each other’s hand, as they hit the waters and river engulfs them. They separate, as they quickly rise to the surface. Their backpacks doubles as flotations and they helps them ride the waves downstream of the white waters.

"Rumple !" Belle gasps for air. She can’t see or hear him. "Rumple !" The river pushes her further down. She fights and claws to get a hold of the river bank, but she loses her grip, floating down and out of the cave.

Up stream, Dr. Gold is in a frighten panic. He frantically shouts the name of his dear camera woman, with no replies. The rippling waters slow and he has more control of where he’s going. The doctor pulls himself to the riverbank and hopelessly waits for the heroic woman that saved his life. Moments pass and Dr. Gold hears his name.

"Rumple," she cries, wading in the calming river.

The doctor lays eyes on her and staggers back into the water. “Belle, I’m coming.”

She rushes towards him and they come together like opposite sides of magnets, once again, but this time by their own will. They tangle their fingers in each other’s wet hair, stealing the breath from the other, as if almost drowning wasn’t enough.

Dr. Gold slips his tongue into her mouth, savoring the taste he missed, but didn’t know how much until now. “Oh, Belle.” His voice is low and breathy. “I thought I lost you.” He hugs her tightly.

"I didn’t know where you were. I was so afraid."

"We don’t have to be fearful anymore. We broke the curse and found each other." He kisses the crown of her head, holding her close, while the river trickle around them. "That cave must have been under the hill, the castle hits on."

"I don’t care where it was, I’m glad to be out." She rests his arm on her shoulder and helps him out of the cold water. Belle looks up to the blue sky, admiring the clouds and birds, she haven’t seen them in almost a day. "It’s so beautiful out here." She sits him down on the edge of the riverbank and checks the glasses she put in his bag. She’s relieved to find them in one piece and dry. "Looks like the bags were waterproof after all." She places them on her face.

"You fucking film geek." He smiles at her, chucking. "Who also saved my life in that castle. Thank you, dearie."

She affectionately kisses the doctor. “We saved each other,” she whispers upon his lips and kisses him again, the sweet taste of him is something she can’t get enough of. “This river is where we get our water for the camp. I don’t think we’re far from it at all,” she grazes her hand across his cheek.

"Alright, sweetheart. Let’s head back."

 

~*~*~*~ Part Seventeen ~*~*~*~

Luckily enough, the river pushed them exactly where they needed to be. After almost a fifteen minute walk, they approach their camp.

"Regina?" Dr. Gold calls, but there is no answer. "Tink?" No one replies.

Belle helps the doctor into Regina and Tinkerbell’s tent. “Where can they be, Rumple?”

"I don’t know." He picks up the first aid kit. "Shit." It suddenly dawns on him. "They might be at the castle." He drops the kit and digs through Regina’s bag. "We have to go find them. We can’t let them go into that place." He takes out a black retractable cane with a gold handle.

"Wow. You’re lucky to have that."

"Regina is always fearful that my ankle is going to give out on me someday. She takes this thing everywhere."

"Looks like she was right this time."

"Yes, dearie she was." He struts out of the tent, with his cane and together they begin another venture to the castle.

As they walk to return face to face with the hell they’ve just escaped, the view of the castle lurks out from behind the trees. The predestine palace they saw on their arrival to Avonlea has now crumbled to ruin. Most of the structure still stands, but with brittle bricks, forest overgrown around it and the plush rich garden is now dead. The curse is truly broken and all the magic that the castle held, has all vanished.

“It’s really gone. We broke it the curse.” Belle is in awe of the castles appearances.

“It appears we did.”

The doctor and Belle travel up the decrepit stairs of the castles entry. They fight through foliage that grew out of thin air in a little more than an hour. They approach the door and find it open. Belle and Dr. Gold glimpse at each other with a stroke of fear in their eyes and in a flash, they head inside to find Tinkerbell and Regina.

Upon entering the castle, they walk into what’s left of the grand room. All of it’s luxury and splendor are no more. The room has been claimed by the forest. They find Tinkerbell and Regina, embraced in each others arms. Regina cries on the shoulders of a friend, in belief she has lost someone she loved as a father.

"Regina, dearie." Dr. Gold limps up behind her.

"Oh, god ! I’m starting to hear him now," Regina cries, believing she can hear the disembodied voice of the doctor.

Dr. Gold can’t believe the display he’s seeing. He’s flattered that she would miss him, if anyone ever happened to him, but the way she’s acting is a bit over the top. “Regina, just stop it.”

"I’m trying to, Doctor, but I miss you already." She sobs in Tinkerbell’s shoulder.

"Regina," Tinkerbell calmly speaks. "You might want to look behind you."

"I don’t want to look at it anymore. I’ll never be able to look at ruined cities again. I’ll always be hunted by the memories of my beloved doctor and how he perished in their wake."

"For fucks sake, Regina. I’m not fucking dead !"

His voice sends tingles down her spine and she quickly turns around. “Doctor !” Her eyes glimmer at the site of him. She jumps from Tinkerbell’s arms into the arms of his. “Oh, Doctor, I thought you were dead.”

"As you can see, I am not."

"I thought I was going to inherit your digging tools." She squeezes him tightly.

"I’ll be keeping my tools, if you don’t mind."

"No, Doctor. I don’t mind at all." She let’s go of her constricting grip and steps back, noticing his cane. "Oh, god ! Your ankle ! Are, are you alright?"

"Yes, I’m fine. I don’t even think it’s broken."

"I have to get you back to camp. You need to get off of it."

"No need to make a fuss, dearie. Belle’s been helping me a lot." He looks over in Belle’s direction, giving her a smile. "She’s been taking good care of me."

Belle leers back at him.

"Well, it wasn’t good enough." Regina gives Belle the evil eye. "If she was, this wouldn’t have happened."

"Do not speak about things you know nothing about. Belle helped save my life and you should treat her with respect."

Regina sucks in her pride. “Yes, Doctor.” She helps him remove his backpack, so she can carry it back to camp. “Well, are you going to tell was what happened here? We saw this place crumpling and rushed up. “

"Belle and I will, on our way back and after tonight, we’re getting out of this city.”

The group treads back to camp, as Belle and Dr. Gold tell the tale of their atrocious brush with the curse and death. They tell everything they’ve learned in Zoso’s book, the real story of his life and the curse. Belle’s bravery and how she narrowly escaped a watery death, twice. And also the strong attraction the curse made them feel for each other, but leaving out a few minor details, like their rendezvous on the long wood table. That part they think is no one’s business, but their own.

Regina is upset that the doctor lied to her about the curse. Every fear she had, before he left for the castle was true. By him not telling her, she feels like he doesn’t trust her.

As they re-enter the camp, Dr. Gold notices the long look on Regina’s face and he pull her to the side to talk. “I can tell something’s bothering you, dearie. So, just let it out.”

"You didn’t tell me." Regina doesn’t hold back. "All of that was happening to you, before you left, and you told me nothing. Hearing all of it now, I feel like you have no trust in me."

"That’s not why I didn’t tell you, dearie." He assures her. "I trust you with my life, I always have. I was trying to protect you. I didn’t know what was happening to me and I didn’t want it to happened to you," he speaks straightforward with her.

She reads him for a moment, her eyes fixed on his and he never budges. By the glare in his eyes and the passion in his voice, she knows that what he speaks is truth. “I’m sorry I thought that way about you.”

"No need to apologize. I understand."

"Thank you." She quickly kisses his cheek. "I’m so relieved that I don’t have to plan a funeral."

"I think we both are, dearie." He smirks. "Let’s go.” He places his arm around her shoulder. “I need to get off my feet, I’m hungry and with any luck, the curse didn’t turn the dagger and book into dust. So, we should have them to study."

"Yes, Doctor."

The doctor and his assistant march into camp to join back with the others.

After settling in, Dr. Gold, Belle, Regina and Tinkerbell, sit outside of their tents. Contented with finally being back together and having time to truly unwind. Regina examines the doctor’s ankle and wraps it. She’s not a medical doctor and neither is he, but it doesn’t seem like he has broken it. Tinkerbell starts a fire to cook dinner, Belle and Dr. Gold haven’t eaten anything in almost a day.

“You knew there was a possibility you were staying in the castle all night, why didn’t you take food? Regina asks.

“I did take something, but I didn’t expect to be locked inside.”

“Rumple, what you brought was not food.” Belle interjects, as she uploads the video from the castle to her computer. “All we had were those little protein bars you like, Regina. I don’t see how you can eat them.”

“Protein bars?” Regina is a bit befuddled

“Those bars we had in Central America when you got us lost.”

“Doctor, I haven’t had one of those bars ever since we left Central America, twelve years ago. I couldn’t stand the taste of them then and I haven’t bought them since.”

“You haven’t?” Dr. Gold stares at her, dazed.

“Oh, god, please tell me you haven’t kept them in twelve years. I know you like to pinch your pennies at times, but that’s insane.”

“No, I have not,” he says defensive and when Regina isn’t looking, gestures to Belle to keep his little lie about the bars between them.

Belle giggles and agrees. How could she ever rat him out, with that adorable expression on his face.

Dr. Gold searches through his backpack and discovers that The Dark One’s book and dagger wasn’t destroyed when the curse was broken. He shows Tinkerbell and Regina the book, telling more of Zoso’s story over dinner. After eating, Dr. Gold gives the book to Regina to study. Some of Zoso’s handwriting is difficult for him to read and is hoping Regina can translate anything he may have missed.

Belle and Dr. Gold haven’t had much time together since returning to camp. Winding down with the others have kept them quite busy. After the excitement of the day slows and the evening sun sets behind the mountains. Dr. Gold wants to reconnect with Belle.

Belle sits next to the fire, with her face down in the computer, viewing the video from the castle.

The doctor scoots next to her and places his hand on top of hers.

She looks at him and gazes upon the flicker of the fire in his eyes. After everything they’ve lived through, she feels like they have a deep connection. Now that the curse is vanquished, she knows that these feelings for the doctor are genuinely in her heart. She just doesn’t know what to do with them.

"What are you doing, dearie." His voice is low and soft.

"Watching the horror show that was our life, just hours ago. I can’t believe that’s us."

"I can."

She edges closer to him and turns the computer towards him. “I want to show you something.” She fast forwards the video and stops in a section she didn’t expect.

"Are you ready for me, Dr. Gold?"  
*animalistic grunting*  
*heavy breathing*  
"Oh…Oh, fuck me !"

"Shit ! You recorded it !" Dr. Gold is shock to see their little playtime at the castle on her computer.

"No ! I didn’t… I, I didn’t !" She quickly fast forwards again and hits play.

"Oh, Rumple… Please touch me."  
"Ahh, Belle !"  
*smacking*  
"Oh, touch me, Rumple."  
*moaning*

"What the hell are you guys watching over there?" Tinkerbell asks, a little uneasy.

Belle immediately slams her computer shut and they both look up at Tinkerbell, wide eyed and stunned. “Nothing,” Belle and the doctor reply in unison.

"Well, okay?" Tinkerbell’s steps into her tent, still confused about what she heard.

"That’s not what I wanted to show you," Belle whispers.

"Why did you record that?"

"I didn’t mean too. I forgot I was wearing the glasses."

"Kinda like you’re wearing them now."

"Shit." She takes the glasses off. "I’m sorry, Rumple. I’m going to delete that later."

A mischievous smiles curls on his face. “Or you could keep it.”

"W-what ! Why?"

The doctor arches an eyebrow.

Belle snorts, blushing, putting her computer away. “After everything, I’m still confused as to why the curse wanted us to… Do that.”

“I don’t know. I was wondering the same. I guess we’ll never know.”

Belle shakes her head, trying not to think about it. “When are we leaving tomorrow?” She changes the subject.

"As soon as we pack."

"I actually can’t wait to get away from here. To tell you the truth, I won’t be missing this place."

“I understand, dearie. I’ll be back here in a few months. Without a curse hovering over us, we’ll actually get some real work done. I will say, I’ll miss having you here with me.” He holds her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.

She slowly leans to him, as her heart races.

He tilts towards her, gently brushes his nose across hers, before moving in to taste her lips.

Regina steps out of her tent, disgusted to see the doctor and Belle about to kiss. “Eww.” She turns up her face.

Belle and Dr. Gold sigh, before backing away from each other.

"What do you want Regina?"

"I’m sorry, Doctor. I mean no disrespect. That just took me by surprise." She crosses her arms, looking down at her feet.

"It’s alright." He understands she’s just worried about him. "Did you need anything?"

"I was just making sure you had your painkillers."

"Yes, I took them."

"Alright. I’m going back to study the book. It’s very interesting. Zoso was nothing like we thought."

"I know, dearie." He smiles up at her. "I’ll be looking forward to see what you discover."

"I’m working hard on it, Doctor. Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Regina."

She scurries back into the tent.

Dr. Gold turns back to Belle, as she’s collecting her things.

"I’m going sleep too, Rumple. You know that today was exhausting." Belle places her computer and glasses in her bag.

"Oh, alright." His voice is low. He wasn’t expecting her to go so soon. "I was hoping to get to know you better."

"I just realized that it might be best to leave what we have here." Her heart breaks as she speak. "We won’t see each other after we leave Romania. I don’t think we should get to know each other more than we already have. Otherwise, it would make leaving harder."

He looks down and nods. “I see.”

She stands from the ground. “Would you like me to help you up?”

"No, but thank you. I’m going to sit here a little longer." He glances into the fire.

"I’m sorry, Rumple."

"Don’t be, sweetheart."

Belle steps inside their tent for the night.

Dr. Gold sits out under the stars alone, watching the fire slowly die. I can understand how this way might be the right thing for them, but he’s still heartbroken. Belle is the first woman he connected with in years and now he must let her go. When the fire dies, he pours water over it’s embers and slowly picks himself up from the ground, then limps inside the tent with Belle.

The forest is quiet with a more peaceful feeling in the air, since the curse was broken. Everyone in the camp has been asleep for hours, as midnight strikes and the vivid moon sits high in the star studded sky. But, not everyone is fast asleep.

Belle creeps out of her sleeping bag and sneaks into Dr. Gold’s. She meant every word she said to him before, but that doesn’t mean she can’t have one last night with him. A night where they’re not feeding the temptations of a curse. She lightly runs her finger across his brow and he turns his head to her, while he still asleep. She thinks he’s beautiful in his sleep and she’d really hates to wake him, but she does, kissing his soft lips. He doesn’t wake, so she kisses him again.

He opens his eyes and is startled, to find Belle in his sleeper. “What are you doing, dearie?” he whispers.

"I thought, since we won’t see each other anymore, that we could have one more night together. You know, since the first time we were having our strings pulled like puppets."

"Belle, wouldn’t this make leaving more difficult?"

"I think I’ll regret it if we didn’t and that would make leaving harder."

"I don’t know about that, sweetheart. I think if we did, that’s what makes it hard. It’ll only make me want you more."

She rests her hand on his cheek, gazing into his eyes, thinking how she could be so idiotic. To want to have sex with someone, she basically just turned away. He must think she’s a tease. “I’m sorry, Rumple. I don’t know what I was thinking., coming to you like this, after saying that we shouldn’t get to know each other. That was stupid of me and it wasn’t fair to you.”

"That’s okay, you’re not perfect and neither am I." He kisses her passionately, then breaks the kiss, stroking his thumb over her bottom lip. "How about we spend the night holding each other."

"Aright, Rumple."

He pulls his sleeper over her shoulders. “We’ll be making camp tomorrow night too. We can sleep in each others arms again. That shouldn’t make anything difficult. What do you think?”

"I’d like that." She snuggles in his arms. She’s so relieved that he didn’t get upset.

"I love the way you feel wrapped around me. I’m going to miss that." He kisses her head, taking in her scent. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Goodnight."

They drift back to sleep, cozily in each others arms.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Eighteen ~*~*~*~

The next morning the group prepares for their long hike back to the foothills. They carefully pack, making sure they won’t be leaving anything behind. Dr. Gold wants to leave the city just how they he found it. He doesn’t want to find any modern materials, when he returns to the site. They march to the city gates and take one last look over Avonlea. Dr. Gold needs a comparison of the castle before and after the curse, so he snaps another picture of the landscape. Now that he has his photo, they can begin their journey home.

After a full day of walking, they’re back to the area of the forest, where they spent the first night. They make camp one more time and sleep under the moonlight of the clear Romanian sky. Dr. Gold and Belle are both extremely anxious, tonight is their last night together.

Belle and Dr. Gold lay quietly under their tent, in the same sleeping bag and staring off at the ceiling. Dreading tomorrow, when they’ll have to say goodbye.

Belle turns and looks at the doctor, his eye still fixed on the cloth above them. She knows that she can hold him and be warm in his arms, but that’s just isn’t enough. Belle wants him, all of him, and she need to feel him inside her. She slips her hand under the sleeping bag and rubs down the front of his pants.

"Belle," he murmurs and glances at her, shocked to sense her hand on bulge, but it’s not a touch that’s completely unwanted. "We shouldn’t."

"I don’t think I can leave you without doing this." She kisses the side of his neck.

Touching her is all he wants to do, but in the back of his mind, it will only make their departure more difficult. “Belle… Oh, Belle.” Her hand feels pleasing against him.

"Rumple, are you going to stop me? Because you haven’t yet," she purrs in his ear, talking his lobe between her lips.

Dr. Gold faces her and kisses her. He can no longer fight off his urges. “We’ll have to be quiet.”

Belle kisses him with desire, sucking on his bottom lip. “I can be quiet. Can you?” Her hand grip around his balls.

He closes his eyes tightly, moaning softly.

She pulls the sleeping bag off of them and climb on top of him. She kisses his lips, slipping her tongue into his mouth, savoring the taste she so hungers for. She slides down the length of his body and takes off his pants, being very careful with his ankle. She feasts on his cock, ready to take it for a ride. He isn’t hard yet, but she’s going to change that. Belle strokes his dick and slips the tip between her lips. She sucks and licks him, as her hand manipulates his balls.

His cock grows heavy and thickens to her touch. “Oh, Belle,” his voice is breathy.

She sits up, removing her shirt and her breast fall out freely.

"Come here, dearie," Dr. Gold whispers.

She straddles on top of him.

His hands slides up the span of her body, stopping at her breasts, cupping them. Their so soft and silky. He quickly sits up to see how they feel in his mouth. The doctor wraps his lips around her nipple, sucking and flicking it with his tongue.

"Ahh," she whimpers, holding the back of his head, her hand full of hair. She licks her bottom lip, sucking it between her teeth, as she rocks her hips against his cock.

The sensation from the fabric of her pants grinding against his dick, drives him to the edge of ecstasy and he craves for more of her.

She pulls his head away from her nipple, takes off his shirt and pushes him back down. With her hands on his chest, she rolls her hips faster. She wants him on the verge of coming.

"Belle… I… Ahh…" He can’t speak. He can only think about the friction against his cock. He comes a little on her pants, but he holds it back.

"You’re such a good boy, Dr. Gold. You almost spilled, but you’re holding it for me." She kisses him, then stands up.

He stays in his position, watching her take off her pants. Her panties are so wet, he wants to suck on them dry. “Can I see them? I need to smell them. I want to remember your scent.”

She removes the panties and flashes them in front of him, teasing. “Nope.” She tosses them to the other side of the tent. “I have a different plan for you.” She steps over his shoulders and stands above him, then sits on his chest.

Her soft wet curls are just under his chin. He can smell her cunt and that’s exactly what he wanted. The doctor takes a deep breath and his body shivers, as a tingling feeling shoots down his spine. Her aroma is so alluring, he yearns for the flavor in his mouth. “Can I taste you, Belle?” His brown eyes looks up at her.

She gazes down at him, stroking her hand through his hair. “Yes.” She sits up on her knees and he buries his face in her folds. “Fuck.” Her body shudders and she falls to her hands.

His hands are wrapped around her legs, as he eats between her thighs. Dr. Gold slurps up her juices, he doesn’t want to waste a drop. “Mmm, Belle,” he hums, between the small smacking sound if her wetness spreading over his face. He massages his tongue over her clit and inside her opening. She tastes a lot sweeter than he thought.

She sits up, then back down on his chest, needing a moment to catch her breath.

Dr. Gold stares up at her, his face glistening with her essence, thirsty for more. “I wasn’t finish, dearie.”

"We’re not finished yet."

"I know, but I wasn’t finished eating you." He wipes his chin and lick her juices.

"I have something else for you." She climbs off of him.

"What’s that, sweetheart?"

Belle strokes his cock and mounts on him, gliding him into her opening.

"Ah, Belle."

She’s warm and wet around him.

Belle arches her back, resting her hand on his legs, grinding her cunt against him, riding him hard and strong. “Ah… Ah…” she silently moans. She moves her hands to his chest and pounces on his dick, feeling every inch of him inside her.

Dr. Gold grips her hips. “Oh… Come here, dearie.”

She leans forward and kisses his lips, thrusting her hips.

He quickly flips her over laying on top of her. “You don’t mind if I take a little control, do you?”

"No," she heavily sighs. She kisses him, gently biting his lip as she pulls away. "I don’t mind." She wraps her legs around him and caresses her breast, rolling the nipple in her fingers.

"You’re so beautiful." He plunges deep inside her, filling her up with him. "Ahh," he grows. She clinch the walls of her cunt around him, she’s so tight, the sensation drives him wild and he fucks her harder.

Belle can tell by the look on his face, he’s ready to burst at any moment. She doesn’t think he can last as long as he did at the castle and she needs to be satisfied too. She slips her hand between her thighs, stroking her bud.

He closes his eyes tightly, grunting and out of breath, giving her all that he can.

"Not… Ahh… Not yet, Rumple." She strokes herself faster.

"O… Okay." He pumps in and out of her, desperately holding back and he really doesn’t know if he can.

"Oh… Oh, fuck !" she yell.

The quiet game is definitely over.

He sits up on his knees and hold her up to his waist, with her back still on the ground. This new position opens her up and he fucks her deeper.

"Ahh… Rumple…" Her body vibrates, as she reaches her climax. The energy of her orgasm pulses through her and she comes. "Oh… Oh, yes, Rumple." She continues to touch herself, closing her eyes and her body still tinkles with the aftershock. "You’re… Your’e, such a good boy," she pants.

Dr. Gold gazes at the bliss on her face, then pulls himself out of her and she squirts on his cock. He lays her down and strokes himself over her. He’s been holding back the urge to come and it doesn’t take long for him to let it go, coming strong on her thighs. “Oh, Belle !” His body trembles, as he spills all that he has, milking himself dry. His warm seed drips down her thigh, mixing with her extract.

Belle dips her fingers into his hot come and brings her hand to her lips, savoring the taste of his salty seed.

Dr. Gold falls on top of her, with his dick twitching between her legs.

The extract of the desires trickles down from her legs, on to the sleeping bag, and the tent fills with the aroma of their passion.

Dr. Gold rolls off of her and curls up next to her. “Can you hold me, Belle?”

"Yes." She wraps her arms around him and kisses his head, then brushes the hair out of his face. "You sleep well, sweetie." She pulls the sleeping bag over them both.

"Mmm, you too." He closes his heavy eyes, cuddling into her chest.

They fall asleep with thoughts of each other running through their minds.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Nineteen ~*~*~*~

The sun rises over the mountains, bringing in their last day in the forest. Dr. Gold awakes in Belle’s arms and looks up at her, resting peacefully. She’s extraordinarily beautiful to him and he can’t take his eyes off of her angelic face. He doesn’t want to wake her. He could spend all day watching her sleep, but they must start on their hike. The group needs to make good timing to catch their chopper. He rest his head back on her chest, taking in the moment. It’s the last time they’ll wake up together and he isn’t looking forward to telling her goodbye.

Dr. Gold takes a deep breath and looks up at her face again. “You’re gorgeous,” he whispers and softly taps the back of his finger on her cheek, tickling her.

Belle giggles, as she slowly opens her eyes.

"Hey, you." He gazes at her warmly and caresses her breast, feeling her velvety skin. Dr. Gold places his lips onto her flesh, gently sucking on her nipple.

"Mmm." She brings her hand up to the back of his head, raking her fingers in his hair.

"Good morning, dearie," he hums in her skin, as he slowly slips his hand down to the lips between her thighs, she’s still moist from last last.

"Ahh, good morning," she breaths.

Dr. Gold removes his fingers and sucks them, then kisses her lips, giving her a taste as well. “Did you rest well, sweetheart?”

"Mmhmm."

"I’m glad you did." He kisses her neck, down to her breast. He wants to kiss every part of her, before standing.

"Rumple, we should be getting up."

"I know, sweetheart." He pulls the sleeping bag off of him and climbs on top of her. "But, can I taste you again?" he whispers and kisses her breasts. He can’t get enough of sucking on her nipple.

Without warning, Regina stumbles into their tent, holding Zoso’s book, and her eyes fall directly on the doctors bare ass. “Holy, shit !” She drops the book and covers her eyes.

Dr. Gold rolls off of Belle and quickly covers himself.

"I’m truly sorry, Doctor." She bends over and blindly tries to recover the book.

"Don’t worried about it, Regina. I’ll bring the book out to you when we get dressed."

"Yes, Doctor." She swiftly circles around and struggles to find the door. She anxiously claws at the tent, with one hand still over her eyes, urgently trying to get the hell out. She ultimately finds the door and scampers away.

"Oh my god, that’s so embarrassing." Belle shamefully covers her face.

Dr. Gold wraps his arms around her and she rest her head on his shoulder. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. She didn’t see you.” He gives her a peck on the cheek. “In fact, she didn’t see anything she’s never seen before. Regina’s just overreacting.”

"She’s seen your ass before?" she asks puzzled, but also intrigued.

"Yes, on several occasions. The first time is actually a long story, but we were in Italy." He covers her with the sleeper, making her more comfortable. "It was my first time visiting the excavation site at Pompeii, and at the hotel I lost my pants…"

Belle snickers. “How did you lose your pants?”

"Well, that’s a long story too. When we arrived in Italy…"

"Doctor !" Regina interjects, standing outside of the tent. "I know you’re busy in there, but we need to get going."

They almost forgot, they were on a time crunch.

Dr. Gold and Belle look at each other with gloomy faces. They know it’s getting closer to say goodbye.

"Doctor?"

"I’m coming, Regina," he snaps and pulls the sleeping bag off. He gives Belle one more peck on the cheek, then slowly stands.

"Do you need help getting up?" Belle asks.

"I’m alright, dearie." He gets up on his own and dresses. "I’m pretty sure Regina is standing out there, ready to shove pills down my throat."

Belle picks herself from the floor and goes to the doctor. She puts her hands on his cheeks and looks him in the eyes. “I’m going to miss you.”

He places his hands overs hers and pulls them down from his face. “Me too.” He buttons his pants and swings his shirt over his shoulders. Last night with Belle was incredible and he doesn’t regret a moment, but just like he thought, it’s making leaving more difficult. Dr. Gold does the only thing he can think of to make the situation easier, by withdrawing his feeling for her. “I’m going to need the unedited video, before we leave the chopper.” He grabs his cane, picks up Zoso’s book and exits the tent.

Belle notices a detached tone in his voice and it broke her heart. She knew saying goodbye was going to be difficult, but she didn’t anticipate it feeling so cold.

Outside the tent, Regina stuffs painkillers in the doctor’s mouth. “I found something you missed in the book and you’ll really love it. Especially after seeing what I just saw.” She give him a bottle of water. “And horrifyingly heard last night,” she adds, quivering.

He chugs down the water, swallowing the pills. “Tell me later, dearie. We need to start clearing out.” He hands Regina back the book.

"Yes, Doctor."

The morning progresses, as Tinkerbell, Regina, Belle and Dr. Gold clean up their campsite for the final time, then move out on their hike back to the foothills.

Dr. Gold walks the journey, disconnected from Belle. He cares about her and still has strong feelings, but he thinks this is the best way to deal with their departure.

Belle can understands why he’s acting this way, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t pissed about it.

After the long morning walk, the group returns to the foothills where they started. They arrive a little late and the helicopter has came around once before, but with the instructions Tinkerbell gave the pilot, he should be coming back anytime soon.

Belle eyes Dr. Gold, while he sits on the ground with Regina. Her blood boils at the way he’s been treating her.

The doctor shows Regina the details on the kris dagger and making inside jokes with her. He continues to avoids Belle, firing smug looks in her direction, ever so often.

Belle is fed up with his silent treatment and needs to let him know how she feels. “You wouldn’t even have that thing if it wasn’t for me.”

Dr. Gold glares at her, loathing the tone in her voice. “No one ever said a thing about you not helping. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

"You don’t act like it."

"Well, what more do you want, dearie?"

"For you to stop treating me like I’m not here."

"How can I be doing that, when I’m talking to you know?"

"Doctor, I don’t think that’s what she meant."

"Shut up, Regina," he snarls.

Regina stands down.

"She’s right. That wasn’t what I meant and you should stop telling her to shut up." Belle argues. "I don’t even understand how she worked with you so long. You can be so mean."

"It’s a good thing your contract with me is up."

"Doctor, maybe this is a good time to tell you what I found in the book." Regina tries to defuse the situation.

"Not right now, dearie. I’m not finished dealing with Belle."

"Dealing with me? You’re not finished dealing with me?" Belle’s face turns red with fury. "How fucking dare you…"

The blazing sound of the helicopter sails above them and Tinkerbell helps the pilot navigate to their direction.

Belle quickly stands and tosses the CD of her filming, at the doctor. “There’s your fucking doc,” she hisses, then rushes to help Tinkerbell flag down the chopper.

The pilot spots them and the helicopter hovers over their area. Regina helps Dr. Gold up from the ground, as the pilot drops the ladder.

"Doctor, do you need me to carry your stuff up."

"No, no, Regina. There’s no way you can carry everything on your own. I’ve got it."

"Aright, but be careful climbing up there."

"Dr. Gold, you head up first and we’ll all follow after you." Tinkerbell directs.

The doctor starts his slow ascent up the ladder. It takes him nearly five minutes to reach the top, but now that his on board, the others can climb up.

It doesn’t take long for the women to reach the chopper and once they’re inside, the pilot takes to the air. Leaving behind the forest and ending a momentous adventure.

 

~*~*~*~ Part Twenty ~*~*~*~

The helicopter soars over the Carpathian Mountains. The rich forest below them is just as beautiful leaving as is was arriving. Other than the sound of the helicopter blade swirling above them, the chopper is quiet. With no conversation going on with the passengers, Regina think this is the best time to tell the doctor what she’s found.

"Doctor?"

"Ugh." Dr. Gold rolls his eyes. "I can’t have five minutes without you yapping at me."

"What I have to say is very important to you and Belle, so you both need to listen." Regina asserts herself.

He sights. “Fine, what do you have to say.”

"Belle are you listening?" Regina asks.

"Yes."

"Good." She take out Zoso’s book. "Doctor, you were wrong about the reason you two had to break the curse and because of the real reason, is the reason why only you guys were affected by the curse."

"Quit you’re rambling and get on with it, Regina."

"You quit being so fucking mean." Belle lashes at the doctor.

Regina stares at them. “Can I finish now?”

"Yes !" They answer together.

"Okay." She clears her throat. "Well, the curse didn’t break because you two cared for each other, It’s a lot more deeper than that. It was broken because you are true love."

"Give me that book." Dr. Gold snatches it from Regina.

Belle gawks at Regina with her jaw to the floor.

Regina continues her explanation. “Magic comes with a price, at least that’s what I read in the book. The curse amplified your love for each other, even though you didn’t know it was there. Only true love could break the curse and that’s why only you two felt it’s manipulation. What you felt, was the way of bringing love together to break it, the price for whoever originally cast the curse. As unbelievable as this sounds, you two are meant to be together.”

Dr. Gold blazes through the pages of the book. “Where did you find this?”

She helps him find the passage, as Belle proceeds to stare off.

"It’s right there, Doctor. You must have skipped that whole page."

"She’s right, she’s fucking right." He’s completely baffled. "Everything we felt was real." He let’s it all soak in for a moment, then slams the book shut. "This doesn’t change anything." Dr. Gold puts the book away. "The curse is broken, we’re going our separate ways and that’s it."

Tinkerbell pokes Belle to get her out of her trance. “I think she’s gone.”

"Belle… Belle !" The doctor yells.

She jerks out of her zoned out state.

"Did you hear me, dearie?"

"Y-yes, I heard you."

"Good."

As they continue their flight through the air, Dr. Gold and Belle feel more awkward around each other than they have before. They try to keep up the facade that they don’t care about the information in the book, but deep down inside, it’s eating at them both.

Belle has always thought she would find love someday and now, she’s in a helicopter with the person she’s destined to be with. But after the way he’s treated her, she can’t wait to get the fuck away.

Dr. Gold never believed in curses until he lived through one and something like true love, is something he didn’t think was real as well. He never thought he would find love and he was never really looking for it. Now that his perspectives have changed and he knows what true love feels like, he doesn’t want to live without it again. The person he fated to be with is right in front of him and he feels like an ass, because he just pushed her away.

The pilot lands the helicopter back at the hanger and everyone exits. The group load their things in Tinkerbell’s car and she drives them back to the city.

"Everyone’s flights are today? No rest in between?" Tinkerbell asks, breaking the silence.

"Yes." Regina answers. "Dr. Gold and I are due back in New York to present our findings to the university and prepare for our trip back."

"How about you, Belle?" Tinkerbell questions. "Why are you rushing to get home?"

"I have to find a job," she mumbles.

"Oh." Tinkerbell drives them to the airport and the ride remains silent.

After the long drive, they arrive at the Bucharest airport. They exit the car and unload the bags, then say their goodbyes to Tinkerbell. Everyone thanks her for all she’s done through the trip, they probably wouldn’t have survived without her. Following the goodbyes, she gets back into the car and set out on her next undertaking.

Belle doesn’t waste anytime with Dr. Gold and Regina, she heads straight inside the airport.

"Doctor, are you really going to let her go?"

"Why the hell do you care, Regina. Every time you saw us together, you were grossed out."

"That was just my reaction to the initial shock. I have nothing against you having something with her, if you wanted it. I don’t think you should waste this opportunity."

Dr. Gold smiles at her and realizes that she’s right. “That’s my girl.” He kisses her cheek and struts, with his cane, as fast as he can to find Belle.

"Wait, Doctor, our bags !"

The doctor scurries to find his love and it doesn’t take long before he does. “Belle, wait,” he calls.

She turns to him with hostility. “You stay away from me.”

"Belle." He stops in front of her. "I’m truly sorry. I was… I was being…"

"An asshole."

He sight out, “Yes, that.” He take another step closer to her. “I didn’t want to be that way with you. I thought it would make our leaving easier, but it didn’t. I only just realized that I don’t want this to end, without knowing that I’ll see you again.”

Regina stomps up behind them, out of breath, carrying all of her and the doctors bags.

"Oh, Rumple." Belle drops her bag. "I don’t want it to end that way either, but we don’t even live in the same state."

"You never told me where you live. There’s still a lot of things about you I want to know."

"This isn’t going to work, sweetie, we can’t just uproot our lives."

"Where do you live, Belle? I need to know." He gazes at her with pleading eyes.

"I can’t bare to see you look at me that way." She steps closer to him and gently strokes her hand across her brow, removing that strand of hair that always falls in his face. "It’s a small town. You’ve probably never heard of it."

"Tell me, Belle," he whispers.

"Storybrooke, Maine."

"Really?" His eyes light, like a puppy chasing a ball. If he had a tail, he’d be wagging the hell out if it. "You really live there?"

She nods.

"I can’t, I can’t believe it." He fill with excitement. "I have a house there. Storybrooke is a quaint little town. I vacation there when I’m not working."

Regina drops all of the bags and gapes at the doctor, gobsmacked. “Doctor you…”

He turns his face to her. “Shh ! Not now,” he mumbles and looks back at Belle.

"You have a house in Storybrooke?"

"Yes, sweetheart, I do. No one has to uproot their lives at all and actually." He brunches the back of his hand over her lips. "After our presentation in New York and when I edit the documentary, I’m vacationing there."

"Oh, Rumple." She hugs him tightly.

"I want to spend the whole time with you. We can go to that place I love."

"Which one, sweetie." She pulls away from him and looks into his eyes.

"Oh… Uhh… " His eyes eyes wonder. "You know the place, Belle."

"Ruby’s Diner?"

"Yes, that’s the one." He’s relieved she answered for him. "I love that place. They have the best hamburgers. I want to take you there, for a real date."

"I’d love that." She kisses his lips. "You’ve made me so happy. Looks like that book was right. We were destined to be together."

"It was right, dearie. We were truly meant to be."

Belle takes the pin out of the pocket of his shirt and writes her phone number on the palm of his hand. “Call me as soon as you land in New York.”

"I will, sweetheart, I promise." He smiles at her and looks down at his hand, memorizing her number

"I hate to say goodbye, but I feel better about it now, since we’re going to see each other again." She kisses him passionately, running her hand through his hair, savoring the taste of his lips. "I have to go, sweetie, my flight is taking off soon," she pouts.

"I understand. Ours is too." He kisses her one last time. "I’ll tell you more about when I’ll be in Storybrooke, when I call you in New York, alright?"

"Alright. I can’t wait to hear from you." She picks up her bag. "Goodbye, Rumple."

"This isn’t goodbye, sweetheart, it’s more like a see you later."

She giggles. “You’re right. I’ll see you later.” She backs away, keeping her eyes on him. “You too, Regina.”

"I’ll see you later, dearie." Dr. Gold cheerfully answer back and Regina waves, quietly.

After Belle hears his reply, she turns away and boards her flight.

Regina steps in front of him and gets right in his face. “Doctor, you don’t have a house in Storybrooke. You’ve never even heard of the place,” she grips to him. “You’ve lived in the same place for years and you’ve always said you never had a need for another house. You never wanted one.”

"Do You have your phone, dearie?" He ignores her comment.

She sighs, taking out her phone. “You lied to her, Doctor.”

Dr. Gold avoids her again. “Find me a house in Storybrooke.”

Regina is dumbfounded that he wants to acutely spend money on a house. “You’re really going to…”

"Please." He interrupts her. "Just do what I ask.”

"Yes, Doctor."

"Anyways, by the time I talk to her in New York, what I said here will be truth."

Regina rolls her eyes and search for a house. She looks up The Charming Realtor, located in Maine, and browses their site. When she sees a house, she thinks is suitable for the doctor, she tells him about it. “There’s a pink Victorian on the market in Storybrooke.”

"Buy it," he orders, without any hesitation.

"Yes, Doctor."

*  
*  
*

~*~*~*~ Epilogue ~*~*~*~

Dr. Gold moved to Storybrooke, a few weeks after his date with Belle. They’ve been together ever since their leave from Romania and have fallen deeply in love with each other. They couldn’t be more happier together. 

A month after Dr. Gold made Storybrooke his permanent residents, Belle had fallen ill, with nausea and vomiting. The doctor was profoundly concerned about his love and went with her for a check-up. The medical doctor ran tests and assured Belle that she was not physically ill, but pregnant. They were taken surprise by this incredible news. They’ve been very careful to prevent pregnancy, since being together, and the only time they weren’t, was in Romania. Dr. Gold and Belle aren’t upset by the news, however. They are devoted to each other and are overjoyed to becoming proud new parents. 

One year after having their daughter, Cassidy Baelee Gold, the kris dagger Dr. Gold now displays on the mantle of their fireplace, lit up with purple smoke. The room was empty, no one was around to witness this phenomenon. When the smoke cleared, the dagger was etched with the new name of its master. The curse of The Dark Castle is satisfied, having gotten exactly what it needed. Dr. Gold and Belle were mislead by Zoso’s book. Their actions didn’t break the curse, but assured that it progressed. Bleeding on the dagger is what sealed the deal. Zoso was the kind of man Dr. Gold always thought he was, a tyrant sorcerer. That was the cause of the dark magic inside of him, wanting to get out. The magic was gratified with Zoso in his earlier years, but he became an old fool and the magic needed to detach itself from him. It knew exactly how to do it, writing a book to mislead true lovers in securing its new, more powerful, life. And the pair of true lovers had fallen for it. 

Belle laid her precious daughter down for her nap, kissed her head and left her to fall asleep. Cassidy, not contented with taking a nap, stood in her crib. She reached for her favorite stuffed crocodile toy, that sat on the floor. The crocodile elevated off the floor and floated into the arms of Cassidy. She lovingly snuggled with her beloved toy and laid down for her nap.


End file.
